Zootopia 2
by Tryingtowriteprostyle
Summary: After tying the knot, Judy and Nick Wilde are ready for the next big adventure: parenthood. They find two unique orphans and so the story begins.
1. Chapter 1

A young man chuckled to himself as he listened to his equally young wife of six months yammer on about how excited she was about today. They were headed out of their small house and going to their car. The man was an anthropomorphic fox and his wife was a rabbit.

"I'm telling you, Nick. I feel it. We're going to find a great one. One with potential coming out of his or her ears! Oh, we're gonna be such proud parents!"

"Simmer down there, carrots. Let's make sure any of these kids want us as parents first." The man said, scratching the back of his head.

"Why wouldn't they? I mean, we're ZPD officers. Kids think that's a cool job, right?" His wife said, practically bouncing in place.

"Not all kids are like you. They aren't all ZPD nuts like you were growing up. Sure, some might be, but it's not a guarantee."

"There's always hope, Nick."

"Well, that's true. Here, I'll get the door for you."

Nick opened up the front passenger door and his wife hopped up into the seat.

"Thank you very much, honey."

"Not a problem." Nick said and then shut the door.

Nick then walked around to the driver's side and got in.

"You buckled in?" He asked as he buckled himself in.

"Yup."

"Okay. Here we go." Nick said as he started the car.

They pulled out of the driveway and headed down the street.

"Say, Nick?"

"Yeah, Judy?"

"Are you still, uh, what's a good word, um, apprehensive about this?"

"Carrots, I'm not gonna lie to ya. I'm freaking terrified about this whole concept. Then again, I've felt that way a few times about various things over the past year and a half. And they all worked out. So, I don't know, maybe I'm just stressing over nothing. But, I can't help it. I know these kids are in need of good mother and father figures. And that's where I look at you and see perfection. A perfect mother figure. I mean, you're strong willed, so you could assert authority when you need to. You're very physically fit as well, so keeping up with the rascals is nothing for you. Also, you come from a big family. Plenty of experience in taking care of kids. And to top it off, I don't think you've ever done anything wrong because of how strong you're sense of right and wrong is. So, yeah, no doubt these kids would learn good from bad really quick with you as their mother. And then there's me."

"A cunning fox with charm to spare and formidable acting and problem solving skills. Also, you are extremely loyal and protective of those who matter most to you. And, finally, you have a story to tell them to show how you can go from bad to good and how you can make something of yourself. See? We both bring worthwhile things to this table called parenthood."

"You sly little bunny. You always know what to say, don't you?"

"When it comes to you? Of course. It's my job as your wife after all."

Nick laughed to himself. Sometimes he just couldn't believe how his life had ended up. Not too long ago, he was a con artist, scamming people out their money any way he could. And then he met Judy. Judy was the first rabbit to ever join the police department of their city. And, after a grand adventure that involved them uncovering and stopping a corrupt government official, Judy had convinced Nick to join the force. And thus was born the team of Hopps and Wilde, rookie cops extraordinaire. They were a formidable team. One that no one could match. And since they were spending so much time together during work, their friendship naturally grew stronger. And, as it often does, friendly affection turned to romantic interest. It had been Judy who proposed they start up a relationship, once she tallied up all the pros and cons to it. Nick was happy to be with Judy, but he knew how people would look at it. After all, being a fox, he was classified as a predator and she, as a bunny, was considered prey. It was this very class divide that the government official they had taken down sought to take advantage of. But when Nick thought about any jeers he and Judy might get, he also thought about how they might inspire others and try to bridge the gap between predator and prey. And that alone made the relationship worth it. The fact that he really was in love with Judy and that she loved him as well was the most important thing, but what their relationship could do for society made for a tasty bonus. They dated for several months before Nick decided that he wanted Judy all to himself for the rest of their lives. So, he proposed to her and she was quick to say yes. Time passed quickly and they were married in a humble ceremony attended by friends and family. Nick remembered that day fondly. One moment that stuck out to him was when Judy's father presented him with a picture showing he and the rest of the Hopps clan pouring out their supply of fox repellent. After all, Mr. Hopps reasoned, it wouldn't look very inviting and familial to leave it hanging around while having a fox for a son-in-law. This was a moment that made Nick feel like they were already making progress. Three months later, Judy and Nick met with her parents for a family dinner at the Hopps family home. During dinner, Judy's mother had jokingly brought up the idea of them having children. Nick had laughed it off, saying that dna was a finicky thing that just didn't seem to like hybridization. That was when one of Judy's many, many sisters piped up. She cited that they could always adopt. Nick saw his wife's eyes light up. He knew that look all too well. And, just as he expected, two months of pestering and pleading followed. Finally, Nick caved and said that they would go to the orphanage at the end of the next month. He reasoned that since their vacation time fell during that period, it would be the ideal time to do it. And now, the day was here and his fluff-ball of a wife was bursting at the seams with anticipation.

"Hey, Jude, you know we're not going to pick out a new toy, right? This is going to be a young life that's gonna be left up to us to raise right."

"I'm well aware of that, Nick."

"Okay, I'm just saying that you're acting like a kid that's about to go to the candy store."

"I can't help it. I'm so excited. Nick, ever since I was a little girl, the only thing I ever dreamed of being besides a police officer was a mother. And I decided way back then that my first goal was to cement myself in the force and then pick up the dating scene in order to find my future husband. Naturally, I had no idea that my life would turn out this way back then, but I still had that planned out. And look at this. I'm a cop and I found my husband. So, now, it's time for kids."

"Must be nice, to have your plans all fall into place."

"Oh, I don't wanna hear it from you, mister hustle."

"Trying to live that down, dear." Nick winced.

"Hey, your hustling skills have translated really well into police work. Remember the things I talked about that you brought to the parenthood table?"

"Okay, point taken. Still, I did some things back then that I am nowhere near proud of. I'm hoping that I'm doing enough now to push that away."

"You're doing just fine, Nicky. I am positive that our impending child or, heck, maybe children if we find more than one that we want, will be proud to call you their father. As long as you don't make them wear elephant costumes and go toot-toot."

"Okay, carrots. One more crack like that and I will turn this car around."

"Okay, okay. Point taken. Hey, mind if I play my jam?"

"Knock yourself out, kid."

Judy immediately called up Gazelle's try everything and then went into full karaoke mode. Judy must've replayed the song about six times during the drive to the orphanage. Nick just chuckled as he listened to his wife go through her own personal jam session. Finally, they arrived at the orphanage.

"Alright, fluff. You ready?"

"Been ready. Come on."

As they entered the orphanage they noticed that some of the kids were at play in the nearby recreation room.

"Ah, you must be the Wilde's." Came a voice.

The two looked to see a kindly looking old male kangaroo approaching them.

"Yes, we are. And you must be mister Joeyson."Judy said.

The Mr. Joeyson did a small bow to Judy.

"Walter Joeyson, master of this humble establishment, at your service, milady."

Judy giggled as Mr. Joeyson rose up.

"So, would you like the tour?"

"Of course." Judy said.

"Well then, follow me."

As they toured the building, Mr. Joeyson talked about the various orphans. He made sure to mention that they did have rabbit and fox orphans that he was sure would fit their family perfectly. Finally, they passed by a room with an open door. Judy caught a flash white that caught her attention. She stopped and looked inside. Inside the room, she saw a young boy who looked like a squirrel attending to a slightly younger hedgehog girl. He was bandaging her right paw. Judy thought this display of care was touching, but the odd things about the kids drew most of her attention. The hedgehog was pure white in color and Judy could make out red eyes.

"She's an albino." Judy thought to herself. She was positive that it was the hedgehog girl's fur that had been the white that had drawn her attention.

Judy then looked at the boy. He was definitely a squirrel, but he had odd flaps of skin and fur hanging from under his arms. Judy knew that meant something, but she couldn't put her finger on it. Just then, the kids noticed her in the doorway.

"Oh, hi. Can we help you, Miss?" The boy asked.

"Hey, you're officer Hopps. The first bunny on ZPD." The girl said.

"Yes, I am. But, it's Wilde now. See?" Judy said, flashing her wedding ring.

"Wait, Wilde…oh, that's right. You married your partner, Officer Wilde, the first fox on the force."

"Correctamundo, kiddo. How'd you know all that?" Judy asked as she walked into the room.

"I like to read and the newspaper is something that most of the other kids here ignore. So I get it all to myself."

"Except the comics. I take those." The boy added.

"I see. So, what happened here?"

"She was trying to hang a picture on the wall. She dropped it and the frame shattered. I told her to be careful when picking up the glass, but…"

"I guess I wasn't careful enough and I cut my paw a shard of glass."

"So I ran and grabbed some bandages. Then I cleaned up the glass and then started patching up her paw."

"Well, I think it's very sweet of you to take care of her. So, what are your names?"

"I'm Denise." The girl said.

"And I'm Riley." The boy answered.

"Well, it's nice to meet you both. You can call me Judy. So, Riley, can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"What is that under your arms?"

"Oh, my membranes?"

"Membranes? Oh! Now I remember. I was trying to remember what those meant about you. Now I know. You're a flying squirrel, aren't you?"

"Well, actually, it's more like gliding, but yeah, that's what I am."

"Wow. Don't see too many of you around, not even in Zootopia."

"Yeah, I haven't met another one. Guess that makes me unique."

"It sure does. Boy, I'll tell you, I'd love to be able soar through the air. It must be nice."

"Well, I don't really use them."

"What? Why not?"

"Well…"

"Judy?" Came a voice from behind.

Judy turned around to see Nick and Mr. Joeyson at the door.

"Oh, Nick. Is something wrong?"

"Well, we had already rounded the corner and made it half way to the office when we noticed you were missing. So we came back to find you." Nick said.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I was just talking to my new friends here. Um, say, Nick, can I talk to you and Mr. Joeyson in the office?"

"Um, sure."

"Follow me then, Mrs. Wilde." Mr. Joeyson said.

Judy waved goodbye to the kids and bounded off. Once they were in the office, Judy asked Mr. Joeyson to fill her in on the kids.

"Well, they're both rather sad tales. Riley's parents were missionaries. They were traveling to the sight of a terrible earthquake. Little Riley, who was four at the time, was left in the care of a neighbor. His parents, they didn't make it back. While they were there, another quake rocked the town and they were among the casualties. With no known relatives to take him in, he ended up here. As for Denise, well, she was literally a doorstop baby. We found her, wrapped in a blanket, on our front step. No note, no nothing. Just left there for us to take in. So she's lived all eight years of her life never knowing why she was given up."

Judy began to tear up from the kids' stories.

"But, the good news is that they have each other. See, this happened shortly after Riley turned six. So, about three years ago. Some of the other kids were picking on Denise because of how she looks. As I'm sure you noticed, she's an albino. So they were calling her mean things like monster eyes. Well, Riley, who was also being picked on by these kids because of his membranes and how they look, decided that enough was enough. He came to Denise's rescue and ended up in a fight with the bullies. I had to break it up, but to Riley's credit, he came out of the scrap with a lot fewer injuries than the bullies. And they were all much bigger than him. Never doubt the little guy, eh, Mrs. Wilde?"

Judy nodded and then said "So, they became friends after this, right?"

"Oh, of course. They became inseparable. They are so close now that they are practically brother and sister. That's why I decided that if someone wanted to adopt one of them, they had to take the other too. I couldn't stand to see them separated."

"Hey, Jude, are you thinking what I think you're thinking?" Nick asked.

"Yes, I am, Nick. We found them. Mr. Joeyson, go tell them to pack their bags. They are going home with us, cause they're Wilde's now."


	2. Chapter 2

"Alright, and with this last form, it's all official." Mr. Joeyson said.

The older kangaroo passed the final form to Nick and Judy. As the soon to be parents started signing the sheet of paper, their children-to-be stood in a wide eyed stare. Finally, Denise broke the silence.

"I can't believe it, Riley. We're finally being adopted. We're gonna have a place to call home, forever."

"Yeah and now it's official, we're siblings. We always felt that way, but now, officially, legally, you're my little sister."

"You're only a year older. But, whatever. I'll let you have that one, 'big bro'." Denise said, while laying her head on her now brother's shoulder.

Judy noticed this slight display of sibling affection and felt her heart swell with joy. These two unique and wonderful kids were going to hers soon. Her son and her daughter. She couldn't help but crack a smile as she turned back to sign the paper. She hurriedly signed her name on the form, right next to Nick's, and then slid the paper back to Mr. Joeyson.

"Alright then. It's all settled. Congratulations, everyone. You are now a family of four." Mr. Joeyson said with a broad grin.

Judy jumped from her seat and threw a tight hug on her now children.

"Welcome to the family, kids. I promise, I will be the best mother ever for you guys."

Denise smiled happily and returned the hug. Riley, however, just stood there. Nick couldn't help but notice this, but said nothing of it.

"Alright. Let's go put your things in the car." Judy said while breaking the hug.

"I'll help you with that." Mr. Joeyson said.

Moments later, Nick slammed the trunk of the car shut just after putting the last of the kids' things inside. Now, Mr. Joeyson was saying his goodbyes to the two.

"Well, you two, I have to say I'll miss you. But I'm so happy for you all the same. Now, you two behave for your parents, okay?"

The two nodded.

"Good. Also, I want you two to remember something. Remember how strong you are as a duo. No matter what happens, no matter what your last names are, you are brother and sister. The strength of your bond will help you overcome anything. So, don't forget to always stand by each other, okay?"

"We won't, Mr. Joeyson." Riley said.

"Thank you for taking care of us until now." Denise said.

"It was my pleasure, Denise. Now, go on, get outta here. You've got a new life to start as Wilde's."

"Well, come on, kids. Let's go home." Nick said, opening the car door.

The two jumped in and Nick made sure they were buckled in. Then, he and Judy loaded into the front seat. Nick started the car and they began to leave.

"Don't forget to write!" Mr. Joeyson yelled as the car pulled away.

As the family made the trip home, Judy rambled on and on about how she was going to be a great mother for the kids and how Nick would be a great dad. She swore up and down that they would make them the happiest children ever.

"But, mom, you already have. I never had parents before, so I couldn't be happier than I am now that I finally have some." Denise said.

"We'll see about that, sweetheart. By the way, I don't suppose you ever had a middle name, huh?"

"No, can't say I have."

"Well, how's about I give you one? Let me get a good at you."

Judy turned around to face her daughter. She smiled as she stared at her beautiful albino daughter.

"Hmmm, Denise….Olivia. Denise Olivia Wilde."

"Denise Olivia…I love it! Thanks mom." Denise said as she leaned forward to kiss her new mother's cheek.

"So, Riley, what about you? Do you have a middle name?" Nick asked his son.

"Uh, yeah. It's James. Originally, my name was Riley James Soarton."

"Hmm, well that sounds like a really good name. I hope you don't mind being Riley James Wilde now."

"Not like I have a choice." Riley said with an uneasy laugh.

Nick and Denise could both feel the tension radiating off of Riley. But Judy, who was still off in her motherhood daydreams, was completely oblivious to it. Suddenly, she turned and looked right at Riley.

"So, son, oh I just love saying that, ahem, anyway, what do you want to be when you grow up?"

"Um, I don't know. I guess I wanna help people, like my parents did."

"And like your new parents do now." Judy said happily.

"Um, yeah. So, I guess maybe a firefighter or even a ZPD officer."

"Oh, Riley, honey, those words are music to my ears. Just by saying that, you have made me so proud. Now then, Denise, what about you?"

"I wanna be a doctor, or maybe a scientist."

"Well, they certainly have positions like that at ZPD. You know if you two would join the force when you're old enough, I'm pretty sure you would be the first hedgehog and flying squirrel to ever join."

"Really? Cool. And they have scientist jobs at ZPD?"

"Denise, sweetie, what do you think CSI's are?"

"Um, crime scene investigators? That's what I read that they are once."

"Well, that's technically right, but when you boil it down, they're scientists. They use fancy equipment and good old scientific know how to help officers, like me and your father, to solve crimes."

"Oh, cool."

"Okay, Judy. You can stop preaching the ZPD spiel to them."

"Well, I'm just saying that there are plenty of job opportunities there. And they'd be following in our footsteps. Would you like that, kids? Would you like to follow in mommy and daddy's footsteps?"

"Yeah!" Denise cheered while Riley just gave a half-hearted hoorah to go along with his sister.

Through the review mirror, Nick could see a variety of negative emotions scrawling across his son's face. The most predominant of these was a look of growing irritation and Nick believed he knew the cause. He decided that he needed to distract everyone from the current conversation.

"Hey, Judy. I feel like some music. Would you like to play your song again?"

"Oh, sure!"

Judy once again called up her jam and it began to blast from the speakers.

"Oh, I love this song!" Denise cried.

"Kid, you and I are gonna get along famously!" Judy hollered.

The rest of the car ride home was filled with the sounds Judy and Denise's karaoke session. Finally, the family arrived home.

"Here we are. Casa de Wilde." Nick sad jokingly.

"Come on, guys. Nick will get your things. I'll show you to your rooms." Judy said.

"Oh sure. Leave the heavy lifting to me."

"Oh come on. There's not that much. Now let's go, kids."

After showing Denise to her room, Judy walked Riley to his. All the while she talked about her grand plans for her son. Unbeknownst to her, Riley was growing more and more irritated as she talked.

"Well, here we are. Your own little slice of home." Judy said, gesturing toward the room next to her.

"Okay. Thanks."

"I'll leave you to get settled in. Dinner's at five."

"Alright, I'll be there."

Judy then walked off and Riley entered his room. He took a look around and thought about where to hang some of his posters. Then he heard Judy down the hall talking with Denise. Riley sighed and walked over to the window. He then pulled the collar of his shirt away from his neck and pulled out the locket hidden underneath. He opened it to reveal his last remaining picture of his true parents. Riley got misty eyed as stared up at the clouds outside.

"Mom, dad, I miss you so much."

Hours later, the family sat around the dinner table. They were discussing their plans for tomorrow.

"You know, Nick. The kids don't have that many clothes. We should take them out shopping tomorrow and buy them some new outfits."

"Funny you should mention that. A buddy of mine recently opened a shop down town. He's a tailor. And before you say anything, he's completely legit, I promise. Now, I figure we could buy Denise clothes just about anywhere, but with Riley, well, we don't wanna crush those membranes of his. They gotta be full of nerves, so we have to get clothes that fit properly, so they don't get squished and hurt. That's where my friend comes in. He's the best tailor I know, has a real eye for detail and owes me a favor or two. Once again, completely legit. I helped him out of a bad situation once, so he owes me. He promised that, once he got his shop open, any tailoring I needed would be on the house."

"So we could get Riley's clothes custom tailored for free. Oh that's great. Isn't it, Riley?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Yeah, I guess, who? Come on, say it. Your sister already does. Just call me mom."

Nick noticed his son's eyes narrow. Riley put his fork down and got up.

"Thanks for dinner." He grumbled as he walked away.

"Riley! Was, was it something I said?"

"You really don't get it, do you, Judy?" Nick asked.

"What? What don't I get, Nick?"

"You remember what Mr. Joeyson told us about Riley's past?"

"Yes, of course."

"Well, think about this. That poor kid lost his both of his birth parents at very tender age. And, it's only been about five years since then. That memory is still raw and hurts to think about. And then here comes this chatty bunny, talking up a storm about how she's his new mother and how great she's gonna be for him and yadda yadda yadda. And she's saying all of this without a care about his past life. Tell me, Jude. How would you feel if you were in his place?"

"Oh." Judy said sadly, feeling an ache in her heart.

"Mom, don't feel bad. You were just really excited about spending your life with Riley as your son. You just got carried away. He'll get over it." Denise said.

"Maybe, maybe not. I have to go talk to him. I have to make things right."

"Alright, you do that. Come on, Denny. Let's go see if there's anything worth watching on TV."

"Right behind you, dad. Good luck, mom."

Judy made her way to Riley's room. He had shut the door. Judy swallowed hard and knocked on the door.

"Riley, honey, can I come in?"

"It's your house." Came his abrupt response.

Judy opened the door to find Riley on his bed, staring at his locket and the picture inside.

"Actually, it's mine and Nick's. We pooled our money so that we could afford to buy it. But, that's not important. Um, Riley, I want you to look at me."

Riley sighed but obliged his adoptive mother's request. He saw her on the verge of tears.

"I'm so sorry, Riley. I have been yammering on and on all day about what a good mother I'm gonna be for you and I never even thought about your feelings. Especially with your history. I have been trampling all over your birth parents' memory without even thinking about it. I was just really, really excited to have you and Denise in my life. I got carried away. I didn't mean any harm, but I know I hurt you. And I'm sorry. Believe me, I would never intentionally hurt a member of my family. And, I do care about you, kiddo. Love might be a strong word to use, since this is just day one, so I'll just say I care about you. I want you to be happy here. To feel like you belong. To feel loved and appreciated. And that goes hand in hand with respecting your boundaries. I know you miss your birth parents terribly. I can only imagine how it must hurt. So, I want you to know that I am not trying to replace your birth mother in your heart, just like Nick isn't trying to replace your father. I just hope that you can find room in there for us. And maybe someday, you can point at us and say that's my parents. Adopted, but still, my parents and I love them."

Riley smiled honestly for the first time all day. He could feel his eyes getting misty. He cleared them and then walked over to Judy. He threw his arms around her in a tight hug.

"Thank you for understanding. And don't worry, I forgive you. And, it might take some time to get used to all of this, but I could see myself doing exactly what you just hoped for some day."

Judy smiled contentedly and began to return the hug.

"Thank you, son. Do you mind if I call you that?"

"Not at all, mom."

Judy cried a little hearing that simple three letter word come from her son. Never had something so simple made her so happy.

"Thank you sweetheart. Now, let's start over. Hi. I'm Judy Wilde. I promise to do my best to make sure that you grow up to be a man that both I and your birth parents can be proud of."

"And I'm Riley Wilde. I'm happy to be here and to be your son. I swear I'll work hard to make you and my birth parents proud."

"I know you will, sweetheart. I know you will."


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning, Riley and Denise awoke to the smell of something delicious wafting upstairs from the kitchen.

"What is that?" Riley asked his sister as they met at the top of the stairs.

"I don't know. But it sure does smell good."

Just then Nick emerged from the bathroom nearby. He sniffed the air.

"Ah, Judy's making pancakes." He said.

"Pancakes?" Riley asked, approaching his father.

"What are pancakes?" Denise asked.

"You're kidding, right? You mean you've never had pancakes before?"

The kids shook their heads no.

"Oh my lord. You have to be joking…No, I guess not. The looks on your faces say you're telling the truth. Well, guys, you're in for treat. Pancakes are something that Judy does really well."

"Really?" Denise asked.

"Yup. It's one of your mother's specialties…oops, sorry, Riley."

"It's okay, dad. I'm over it. So, mom's good at making pancakes?"

"Oh yeah. She got a bunch of cookbooks from the library and studied really hard. And she became a pretty darn good cook. One thing I gotta give her credit for. When she wants something bad enough, she will spare no expense in getting it. And that's how she treated the 'training' she put herself through to become good at all the things she thought a mom needed to be good at. I'm pretty sure she hasn't pushed herself that hard since she was going through the police academy. I hope you guys can appreciate that. She did it for you."

"I know I do. You do too, right, Riley?"

"Yeah, of course. We really gotta thank her somehow."

"Well, mother's day is coming up pretty soon. So, here's an idea. Why don't you guys look for a mother's day present for her while we're out shopping today?"

"Will you help us, dad?" Riley asked.

"Naturally. And I'll pay for it of course."

"Thanks, dad." Denise said, hugging her father.

"Think nothing of it. It's my job. Now come on. I think I smell blueberries in those pancakes."

"Oh, I love blueberries." Riley said.

"To quote your mother from yesterday 'kid, you and I are gonna get along famously'. I love them too. Now come on."

The three headed down stairs and into the kitchen. They found Judy hard at work creating a stack of pancakes.

"Smells good, Carrots." Nick called.

Judy jumped like she was being shot at and turned around.

"Oh, good morning everyone. How'd you sleep?"

"Like a log." Nick responded.

"Yeah, I know. You were snoring right into my ear. Thanks for the ear ache by the way."

The kids both chuckled at this.

"And what about you, kids? Did you sleep okay?"

"Yeah. I slept pretty well. I had a dream where I was on top of a mountain for some reason. I spent the whole dream trying to get down." Denise said.

"Well, I'm glad you made it, sweetie. How about you, Riley?"

"I think I fell asleep in record time last night."

"Good to hear. Any dreams?"

"Um, yeah. One. Although, I think it might've been a memory replaying in my head as a dream."

"A memory? Of what?"

"Of my… my mom. My birth mom." Riley said sheepishly.

"Oh, Riley, honey, we're past that now. No need to sound or feel so guilty. If you have dreams of your birth parents, then I'm happy that you get to spend a little time with them that way. I just hope I end up your dreams someday."

"I'm sure you will, mom. Just give it time. I need to make some more memories of you first."

"Well, we have the rest of our lives for that. Oh, by the way, everybody. I called my parents this morning to tell them the good news. They are super excited and they can't wait to meet you, kids. In fact, they even demanded that we come to their house for dinner tomorrow night."

"Sounds good to me." Nick said.

"Oh, and Nick, they said to bring your mom. That way we can have the kids' whole, immediate family together."

"Well, alright, I'll give her call. I hope she's not busy."

"Hey, dad?" Denise asked.

"Yeah, Denny?"

"You just talked about your mom, but what about your dad? Where's Grandpa Wilde?"

Nick sighed and rubbed the bridge between his eyes.

"He, he was one of those kinds of guys who isn't involved with his family. He left mom and I when I just a little thing. Mom said that he wasn't ready to be a dad, so he ran off. Never did come back. But, mom did a great job raising me on her own. Anything that's wrong with me I have only myself to blame for. But, don't you guys worry. I might not have exactly felt ready to be a dad before we found you, but, darn it, I am your dad now and I promise I'm gonna do my best to be a good dad for you guys. To give you what I didn't get. A father's love and attention."

"That's really sweet, Nick." Judy said, honestly impressed by her husband.

"Well, I have my moments. Um, by the way, Fluff, you've got a little something right here." Nick said, pointing to his right cheek.

Judy reached up to her corresponding cheek and felt something sticky.

"Oh, shoot. That's some of the pancake batter. The stupid mixer got away from me and managed to fling some batter onto my face before I got it shut off. I thought I got all. Thanks for the heads up, Nick." Judy said, cleaning the gooey substance off of her cheek.

"No problem. So, we about ready to eat?"

"Yup. Go take a seat and I'll bring you some."

Everyone sat down and Judy soon brought out four plates with stacks of pancakes on each. She carried one in each paw and balanced the other two on the outstretched crooks of her elbows.

"Hey, if the cop thing doesn't work out, you can always become a darn good waitress there, Carrots." Nick said.

"Hardy har har. You're lucky I love you. It's the only thing keeping me from shoving your stack into your face."

"That didn't stop you at our wedding reception with that cake."

"Well, it's kinda customary for that. And, hey, you did it to me too."

Denise chuckled as she imagined her parents shoving cake into each other's faces.

"I wish I could've been there. I would've loved to see that."

"Well, you're in luck, kiddo. Nick's mom videotaped the whole thing. Wedding and reception. We've got a copy laying around. I'll let you watch it sometime. But, not today. We've got too much to do. Now, come on, everybody eat up so we can get going."

"Right. Oh hey, somebody pass the syrup." Nick said.

Sometime later, the family was in the heart of downtown. They were walking from store to store. Nick and the kids had already gotten Judy a mother's day gift behind her back. She had excused herself to the ladies room and they ducked into a nearby jewelry store. The kids picked out a gold, heart shaped locket with a large amethyst stone on its front. Nick figured that the purple stone would match Judy's eyes. Inside the locket a picture could be placed. Nick intended to get a family picture taken and have it placed inside before they gave it to Judy. Currently, he had it stuffed into his back pocket.

"Hey, Nick, let's go into this store next." Judy said, pointing to an electronics store.

"Say, isn't that where we got our cellphone plan set up?"

"Sure is. And I intend to add the kids."

"Wait, does that mean that you're gonna buy us cellphones?" Riley shrieked.

"Yup. Sure am."

"Aren't they a bit young for that, Judy?" Nick asked.

"Not at all. It's the times, Nick. I've seen plenty of kids at their ages with phones. Besides, if they needed to get ahold of us in a hurry, like in the case of a school emergency, what faster way is there than to just call us on their cells?"

"Okay, point taken. Speaking of school, don't you think you should that school we were looking at the other day?"

"Oh, right. Good point. Here, go in there and get them set up with phones. I'll stay out here and call the school." Judy said, while holding open the store's door.

"Yes, ma'am. Come on guys."

"Yeah! We're gonna get cell phones. Mom was right. We can get happier." Denise laughed out as they headed inside.

Judy pulled out her phone as soon as the others were inside. She went through her phone history to find the school's number. As soon as she had it, she pressed dial. After three rings, the school's secretary picked up.

"Alexander Pawson elementary." The secretary answered.

"Betty? Hi. It's me. Judy Wilde."

"Oh, Officer Wilde. Nice to hear from you again. How can I help you?"

"I'd like to talk to the principal about enrolling my kids into your school."

"Oh, so you got the adoption done already, huh? Well, congratulations and welcome to the wonderful world of motherhood."

"Thank you."

"Hold for a just moment while I connect you."

The principal soon picked up. Judy spent the next ten minutes talking to the principal. Judy had to admit that she didn't have the kids' previous educational records but thought that orphanage still might. She gave the principal the orphanage's name and the principal contacted it via email. Mr. Joeyson came through on his end very quickly and the principal soon informed Judy that the kids could enroll as third graders. On top of that, there were two spots left in a classroom taught by a Mrs. Delgato.

"So, they could be in the same class together? Oh that's wonderful. They really do work best as a team, so I was hoping they could stay together. So, when can they start?"

"Well, we let the students go on summer break early so that the school could begin some major renovations. So we're closed for now. We officially reopen on August sixteenth and then the first day of school will be two days later. You really did luck out on catching us here in the office. Normally we're busy overseeing the renovations all over the building."

"Well, I'm grateful that you took the time to help me."

"You're welcome, Officer Wilde. We'll see you on the eighteenth of August."

"Okay. And thank you again." Judy said as she hung up.

Just then, Nick and the kids came out of the store. The kids had their faces buried in their phones. They were working on downloading and setting up ringtones. Riley and Denise had both set Gazelle's try everything for Judy's ringtone. For Nick, Denise had chosen the Fur Fighters my hero while Riley had chosen Kanine West's stronger. For each other, Riley had chosen Catty Perry's Roar for Denise and Denise had picked Hyena Gomez's everything is not what it seems for Riley. After all this, they had gotten lazy and just left the default ringtones for everything else.

"Okay, so the kids start school on august the eighteenth." Judy said to Nick.

"Okay, cool. That gives us plenty of time to get ready."

Nick then noticed something out of the corner of his eye.

"Hey, look, it's a photo both. Wanna get a family picture taken?"

"Hmm, well, it's not professional but, yeah, I really do want one right now. Let's go."

The picture was soon taken and Judy was honestly impressed by it's quality. It had actually turned out very well. Judy couldn't help but stare at this picture for a moment. There it was. Photographic proof that she had everything she wanted out of life.

"Hey, you guys?" She said, her eyes watering.

"Yeah?" Three all said in unison.

"Forgive me if this is too soon to say this but, I love you guys."

"We love you too, mom. Hey, dad, why don't we give it to her now?" Denise asked.

"Yeah, I think it'd be best to do it now, instead of waiting till mother's day." Riley chimed in.

"Alright, alright. Here, Judy." Nick said, producing the locket.

"Oh my god. It's beautiful. And I can I put a picture inside."

"And I think I know which one that will be." Nick said.

"Yeah. Riley, will you keep a copy of the picture inside your locket too?"

"Yeah, sure. On the other side of the locket, so that it'll be right next my birth parents' picture when it's opened up. So that I can look at my whole family at once."

"Thank you. All of you. Oh, come here. Mommy wants a hug."


	4. Chapter 4

Once Judy had finally decided to let go of her family, she wiped her eyes clear of the massive amount of tears she'd been crying.

"Jeez, Judy. I think you soaked my shoulder. Turn off the water works already." Nick said.

"I'm sorry. I'm just so happy. Nothing could make my life better than it is right now. I have all of you and I'm living my dream of being a cop. My life is perfect right now."

"Alright, kids, let's leave your mom to get down from cloud nine on her own. We've still got a few more places to go."

"Okay, okay. I get it, Nick. I'll calm down. Come on. Let's go to your friend's shop now."

"Okay, follow me, everybody."

The Wilde family made their way to the shop. It was called Naturally Great and boasted of using only the finest, natural materials.

"Yeah, right. Heard that before." Judy thought, recalling a sweater she had bought from a similar store. It had fallen completely apart in two days.

The family walked inside. The shop owner was standing at the cash register.

"Hi. Welcome to Naturally Great. Oh, Nick. Good to see you again." The owner said.

"Yeah, good to see you too, Slim."

Judy scanned the owner. He was an antelope and was rather thin. She thought the nickname was rather apt.

"So, introductions?" Slim asked Nick.

"Oh, right. Slim, this is my wife and partner on the force, Judy."

"A pleasure, milady."

"Likewise, Slim." Judy responded.

"And these are our kids, Riley and Denise. We just adopted them yesterday."

"Well, welcome to the family, kids. Any friends or family to Nick are friends to me. So, you'll always be welcome here."

"Speaking of here, Slim, I need to call in that favor you promised me. About the tailoring?"

"Oh, sure. Who am I tailoring for?"

"Riley. See, I don't if you can tell from there, but he's a flying squirrel. He's got those membranes under his arms and I just know they gotta be full of nerves. So, I didn't want to get him just any old clothes, cause I was afraid of crushing those membranes and hurting him."

"Ah, I see. Well, I can certainly take care of that. Come with me, Riley. I'll need to take some measurements. By the way, what colors do you like?"

"Um, red and black mostly. Silver's okay too."

"A boy after my own heart. I love those colors too. So that's what we're gonna get most of your clothes in."

"Will this take very long, Slim?" Nick asked.

"Oh, no. Not long ago. I've got plenty of clothes already in the colors Riley likes. I just have to take his measurements, 'wingspan' included, and then modify the clothes accordingly. Shouldn't take more than half an hour. I'm pretty quick but efficient in my work."

"Okay. Well, Judy, you stay here and oversee everything. I'm gonna take Denny down to the ice cream shop for a minute."

"Okay, but bring me and Riley back something."

"Alrighty. Come on, Denny."

The duo walked down to the store. Nick looked into the window and saw who ran the shop. It was the same elephants who he had scammed the first time he met Judy. He hesitated to go inside, but still really wanted to get Denise a treat. Nick steeled his nerves and walked inside with his daughter. The elephant up front immediately noticed Nick.

"Oh no. Not you. Look, we're out of jumbo pops and we took care of those health code things."

"Well, nice to see you stepped your game up. But, I'm not actually even on duty right now. I'm on vacation. I just wanna buy my little girl here an ice cream."

The elephant looked down at Denise. When he noticed that she didn't look anything like Nick, his eyes narrowed.

"I thought you weren't hustling anymore, now that you're a cop and all."

"I'm not. She really is my daughter."

"Huh. So that's what a fox and rabbit hybrid looks like, huh?"

"She's not a hybrid. She's adopted."

"So, what is she?"

"She's a hedgehog. And her brother's a flying squirrel."

"With a fox for a dad and a bunny for a mom. Boy, the Wilde's sure are a funny bunch."

"Yeah, whatever."

"So, why's she all white? I've never seen a hedgehog in that color before. And, does she have red eyes? Is she sick or something? Man, I can't have you bringing sick kids in here."

"She's not sick. She has albinism."

"That some kind of disease?"

"No, it means she's an albino. Albinism is a genetic condition that makes a mammal's fur turn white and their eyes turn red. It's a hick-up in the DNA. It's not contagious."

"Well, that may be, but she sure does look strange. You know people are staring, right?"

Nick looked around. Sure enough, a lot of people were staring.

"What? You people have never seen a little girl before? Let me tell you something folks. She might look different, but at heart, she is the sweetest little girl you will ever meet. I'm proud to call her my daughter. And she doesn't deserve to be stared at like she's some kind of sideshow freak. Come on, Denny. We're leaving."

Nick stormed out with Denny in tow. Once they got a block away, Denise turned to her father.

"Dad, is the way I look a bad thing?"

Nick turned and knelt down so that he could be eye to eye with his little girl.

"Not at all, honey. The way you look makes you unique and unique is good. Great even. Those people are just stupid idiots. Don't worry about what they think. What matters is what you think about you. Do you like yourself?"

"Well, yeah."

"Well, that's all that matters. Never let anybody tell you otherwise. You are special…and adorable." Nick said, while kissing his daughter's forehead.

Nick then straightened up and turned around.

"Alright. Forget ice cream. Let's go to the candy store. Do you like jawbreakers?"

"They have candy that'll break your jaw? I don't know if I wanna try that."

"It's just a name, honey. They're called that because they're so big that, if you tried to stuff a whole one into your mouth at once, you might break your jaw."

"So, it's just a really big piece of candy?"

"Uh-huh. One big ol' ball of sugar."

"Okay, I wanna try that."

"Well, then let's go get you and your brother one. And maybe some over-sized lollipawps for your mom and I."

Denise grabbed Nick's Paw and held on tight.

"You lead, I'll follow dad."

As the parent and child walked on, Denise took out her phone. She double checked to make sure her dad's ringtone was my hero. Ten minutes later, Nick and Denise returned to the clothing store. Denise was nibbling on her jawbreaker, but she'd still barely made a dent. Judy immediately noticed the lack of ice cream.

"Where's the ice cream?"

Nick told Judy what had happened. Judy's eyes narrowed and her nose twitched rapidly.

"Why those big eared, long nosed….grrrr. I have half a mind to go over and shut the place down. There's gotta be plenty of health code violations left to do it with."

"I'm sure there is, carrots. But it won't do any good. You know as well as I do that people like that don't change through force."

"Yeah, I know. But the kill'em with kindness approach takes so long."

"But it fits your character, sweetheart. Speaking of sweet, here. One over size lollipawp."

"Thank you, honey. Oh, hang on a second. How you coming along back there, Slim?" Judy called to a nearby curtain.

"Just a few more adjusts and the first of five outfits will be done. Just gotta sure this up and…done. Come on, Riley. Let's go show everybody."

Riley walked out. He was wearing a black shirt with a red hood attached. His pants were black as well with red highlights around the pockets and cuffs. There was large silver capital r on the right breast of the shirt. Long, silver stripes ran down the sides of the shirt and pants.

"Tada! What do you think guys?" Slim asked.

"Wow, looking sharp, Riley." Nick said.

"Thanks, dad. The other outfits Slim's making kinda look like this too, but with the colors swapped around."

"All of them?" Nick asked.

"Hey, he liked the way it looked. So, I made bunch of them. Don't worry, I've got bunch of ideas for other outfits. I'll make them later and bring them to you. But, these five should do for now. Oh, and check this out. Riley, show them your full wingspan."

Riley stretched his arms and legs out. His membranes stretched out as he did. It was then that the family could see that the silver stripes on the sides of the outfit were actually a thin, stretchable material that could expand as wide as Riley's membranes could.

"This is one feature I'm particularly proud of. This material is stretchy like we need it to be, but it's also the perfect balance of thin and thick. It's thick enough to keep out any chill but thin enough to allow him to catch the wind when he needs to fly. I'll make sure to keep this feature in all the outfits I make for him."

"Wow, that's really cool, Slim. I told you he was good, Jude."

"I can see."

"Alright, Riley. Let's get you changed back into your old clothes and then I'll finish up the other outfits."

Twenty minutes later, Slim emerged from the back with a box. Riley was already back with his family. He was busy nibbling away on his jawbreaker. Surprisingly, he had made far more progress on it than his sister, even though she had been at it longer.

"Alrighty, folks. Here we go. I'll make the others a little later on and bring them to you."

"Thanks a lot, Slim." Nick said as he took the box from his friend.

"It was my pleasure, Nick. This was interesting. I like these kinds of projects."

Just then the door to the shop opened. In stepped a large, but sharply dressed polar bear. Nick and Judy recognized him immediately. He was one of Mr. Big's men. They knew then that Mr. Big himself was not far behind. Sure enough, the bear walked over to the nearby counter and set his paws, which had been semi-clasped until now, down on it. He unfurled his paws to reveal Mr. Big and his daughter, Fru-Fru. Fru-Fru noticed Judy and the gang right away.

"Judy! Darling! So good to see you. What are you doing here?"

"We're here because Nick is an old friend of the owner and we're getting some clothes custom tailored for our son."

"Your son?"

Judy gestured over to the kids, who were paying attention to the situation but couldn't stop themselves from devouring their jawbreakers long enough to do anything else.

"We adopted them yesterday. Kids! Stop eating for a second and come say hello."

The kids managed to stop themselves and walked over to the adults.

"Hello, ma'am. My name is Denise. I'm Judy and Nick's daughter."

"And I'm Riley. I'm their son."

"Well, it's nice to meet you. I'm Fru-Fru and this is my dad, Mr. Big."

Mr. Big nodded in acknowledgement of the kids. He then turned to Slim.

"Slim, are my suits ready?" The shrew asked.

"Yes, sir. They're in the back. Just let me go get them."

Slim left and the others continued to talk.

"So, Fru-Fru, how's little Judy?" Nick asked.

"She's wonderful. And growing like a weed. She weighs four grams already. She's gonna be big girl, that's for sure. By the way, my husband and I are planning to have another. We're gonna try for a boy this time. And, I was thinking about naming him Nicholas or Nicole if it's a girl again."

"You mean, you want to name your second born after me?"

"Well, certainly. Your Judy's ever-lovin' husband and force partner. And, you are godfather to little Judy. It's only right to name one after you, just like we did with Judy. Oh, and we want you guys to be the godparents of this one too."

"We, we'd be honored, Fru-Fru." Nick said, honestly touched.

"I was hoping you'd say that. By the way, have you picked out godparents for Denise and Riley? I mean, I pray nothing happens to you guys, but you never know."

"Well, no, we haven't yet. Like I said, we just got them yesterday. But, rest assured, you're on top of the list of potential godmothers." Judy said.

"Good to hear. Oh, Jude, I wish you could see little Judy. She's so adorable. I could show you pictures but they don't do her justice. Wait a minute. I know. Why don't you guys come to our house for dinner tomorrow night?"

"Actually, we've already promised to go to my parents' house tomorrow so they can meet the kids. It's an all day trip to and from. It'll be late by the time we get back."

"Well, then you can come the next night. I would like you see to my granddaughter. We'll send a car to pick you up around six the night after tomorrow." Mr. Big said.

"That'd be great. We're looking forward to it."


	5. Chapter 5

The next day, Judy got everybody up early.

"Come on, guys. We've got a long drive ahead of us. The sooner we can get on the road, the better."

Judy rushed everyone around so much that they barely had time to eat a bowl of cereal for breakfast. Nick rubbed his eyes as they walked out the car.

"Jude, you're gonna have to drive, cause I can barely keep my eyes open right now."

"Okay, I will. Hopefully you'll wake up some more by the time we get to your mom's." Judy said as she helped Denise get buckled in.

"It's only a twenty minute drive. That's not nearly enough time."

"Don't worry, sweetheart. I'll do the driving to mom and dad's. You can drive us back home tonight."

"You got a deal." Nick said as he got into the front passenger seat.

Judy soon had the car ready to go and literally jumped into the driver's seat. The family was soon on their way. Judy used her phone to call Nick's mom.

"Hey, Vivian. We're on our way. Are you ready?"

"Dear, I've been ready for about ten minutes now."

"Sorry. We would've been there sooner but getting these lazy bones' to pep up and move was hard and time consuming. Anyway, we'll be there in twenty."

"Alright, I'll be waiting."

Judy then hung up her phone. As she did, she noticed Nick looking at her.

"What?"

"You know talking on your cell while driving is illegal, right?"

"Oh! Yeah. You're right. Um, kids, don't ever do what I just did. That was just a simple mistake. I won't do it again and you should never do it, okay?"

The kids, still mostly asleep, just grunted in response.

"Hmph, good luck getting a meaningful conversation out of them right now." Nick said.

"Yeah, I know." Judy said and then chuckled to herself.

"What's so funny?" Nick asked.

"Oh, I was just laughing at myself for I just did. And, I was thinking, what kind of example am I setting? I mean, the time for us to teach them how drive is still a long ways off but, kids pick up a lot of habits from their parents around this time. I just don't want them to pick up any bad driving habits from me. Or, well, any bad habits at all."

"Judy, are you perfect?" Nick asked.

"No, far from it. We both know that."

"Yeah, well, neither am I. So, we're bound to make mistakes. And we are first time parents. So there's likely to be mistakes made there too. We just have to do our best to do right by them, just like we do with everything else."

"But, how do I know if I'm doing well?"

"Look at that locket around your neck. I paid for it, but the kids picked it out. And they were thinking only of you at the time. About how they felt about you mostly. See, when they picked it out, they both said that they just felt that you would like that locket. They didn't think it, they knew it. They were sure, because they could feel it. Now, I don't know about you, but I believe that feelings like that are the beginnings of what people call a bond. And we've only had them for two days. And that bond is already forming. So, when you wonder if you're doing well, just think about how that special bond they have with you was already forming after just two days. I think that will answer your question better than anything."

Judy touched the locket with one paw and sniffled a little.

"Hey, no crying at the wheel. Focus on the road." Nick joshed his wife.

"Okay, okay. Um, say, Nick?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you. For saying that, for agreeing to this adoption. For everything. I don't know if I could do this without you. And I pray I never have to find out. I love you, Nick."

"Yeah, I love you too. Even if you do get me up way too early."

Judy chuckled and noticed they were pulling up to a red light. Judy stopped and then turned to Nick. She raised up and kissed him lovingly on the cheek. This earned a small smile from him. Judy then turned to face her dozing children. She blew kisses to both of them.

"Momma loves you guys."

"We love you too, mom." Denise mumbled.

Judy was surprised at first. She thought the kids were too far asleep to hear her. But, her surprise quickly faded into a content smile. She then turned back around, just as the light turned green. The rest of the drive went by pretty quickly. The other three members of the Wilde family had woken up enough to carry out a decent conversation by the time they had reached Nick's mom's apartment. Judy honked the horn, but only once. She knew a lot of the people on this block were likely still asleep. She didn't want to bother them with constant horn blasting. Vivian came out soon. She presented Nick with a small thermos full of fresh coffee as the family got out to greet the older fox.

"Here, sweetie. A little morning pick-me-up, just how you like it."

"Thanks, mom." Nick said, eagerly taking a long sip.

"So, are these little rascals who I think they are?"

"Yup. Vivian, meet Riley and Denise, your new grandkits."

"Oh, they're more adorable than Nick gave them credit for when he called last night."

"Well, go on, kids. Go give Grandma Wilde a hug. I promise she won't bite." Judy said with a bit of a laugh.

That was all the excuse Denise needed. She ran forward and latched onto her grandmother.

"It's so nice to meet you, Grandma. I'm Denise."

"It's nice to meet you too, Denise. Say, your dad said that you're into science and gadgets. Is that right?"

"Yeah. Sure is."

"Well, then, here." Mrs. Wilde said, producing a small box from her pocket.

"What are they?" Denise asked as she examined the small gadgets inside the box.

"They're a micro microphone and radio. Your father used these when he was a kid and wanted to play spy. All you have to do is slip that tiny microphone onto something and then turn the radio on. Then you can hear anything that's said near that microphone."

Mrs. Wilde then leaned in and whispered into Denise's ear.

"Your father used to hide this in my closet, trying to over hear me talking about what I'd gotten him for his birthday or Christmas. You could try the same thing."

A mischievous smile crossed Denise's lips, but went unseen by Judy. Her attention was on Riley.

"Well, Riley, are you too cool to hug your grandma?" The mother rabbit asked.

"No, I just always let Denise go first in situations like this."

"Well, I'm done now. Your turn, Riley."

Riley walked up and hugged his new grandmother. Mrs. Wilde squeezed the boy tightly.

"Boy, you're a tough one, huh? I can feel how strong you are from your hug."

"Well, I got into, well, a lot of fights when I was at the orphanage. A lot of times it was to fight off bullies who were after me or Denise. I guess that toughened me up."

"And I appreciate and love you for all of that, big bro." Denise said.

"Well, I'm glad to see that even before you became Wilde's, you were looking out for your sister. Now, would like to see a cool thing your father used when he was your age?"

"Yeah, sure."

Mrs. Wilde produced a small device with a watch strap and what looked like a small claw on the end of it from her purse.

"This is a grappler. My brother, who was an inventor, made this for your dad when he was a little kit. See, your dad was kinda on the short side as a kit. So, to make life a little easier for him, my brother made this. With this, you just point the grapple claw at whatever you want that's high up and press the fire button on top. Um, here."

Mrs. Wilde picked up a sizeable loose piece of concrete from the sidewalk. She then put it up on top of the rail of her front porch.

"Try to nab that with the grappler."

"Um, okay."

Riley strapped the grappler to his wrist and then pointed it at the chunk of concrete. When the pressed the button, the grappler fired with a quiet poof sound. The claw flew out and grabbed the chunk.

"Now, just press the fire button again to pull it down to you."

Riley pressed the button again and grapple pulled the stone up to him.

"Huh, neat. Thanks, grandma." Riley said, tossing the chunk of stone up and down.

"You're welcome sweetie. Well, shall we get going?"

"Sure. Judy's driving, so I can sit in back with the kids." Nick said.

"Nonsense. Sit up front with your wife. I actually want to sit in back with my grandkits."

"Alright, suit yourself. Let's go gang."

The family was soon off again. After a couple of hours of driving, Judy stopped for a bathroom break at a roadside rest stop. Everyone used the restroom and then headed back to the car. Riley kept pointing the grappler at various things to see if he could nab them.

"Hey, dad, what's the limit on how heavy something can be and the grappler still be able to grab it?"

"How much do you weigh?"

"Um, about fifty pounds I think."

"Well, then it carry your weight and an extra person of similar size. So, how much is that?"

"A hundred pounds. Wow, cool. This thing is quite the powerhouse for being so little."

"Yeah, I had ton of fun with it when I was a kid. I hope it's as much fun for you as I was for me."

"I'm sure it will be."

"Alright, everybody. Let's get back on the road." Judy called.

As they continued to drive, a thought popped into Mrs. Wilde's mind.

"Say, Judy?"

"Yeah?"

"Now, please nobody take this wrong way, but, I read that it is technically possible for mammals of different species to interbreed. So, I was just wondering, did you and Nick ever try to get kids that way?"

Judy started to blush hard. She was sure the skin inside her ears was visibly lit up like a Christmas tree.

"Um, Vivian, that's not really appropriate to talk about with young ones around."

"I didn't just come out and say it. I'm just curious, did you try?"

"Nick, make her stop." Judy whispered.

"You know she won't until you answer. She's in one of those moods again." Nick whispered back.

"Well?" Mrs. Wilde pressed.

"Yes, we did. But, well, I don't know if there's something wrong with me or if it's Nick, or maybe even both of us, but it just didn't happen. But, us having kids from that is not, um, 'from lack of trying'."

"I see."

"What are you talking about, Grandma?" Denise asked.

"We'll tell you when you're older."

"Um, okay."

Sometime later, the family arrived at the Hopps family home.

"Hi mom. Hi dad." Judy greeted her parents.

"Welcome back, Judy. And Nick too. Oh and of course, Mrs. Wilde." Stu Hopps said.

"Right, we can't forget our fellow in-law." Bonnie Hopps said.

"Please, just call me Vivian."

"And you can call us Stu and Bonnie."

"So, Judy, Nick, are these the wee ones we were told about?" Stu asked.

"Yup. Go on, kids. Introduce yourselves."

As usual, Riley let Denise go first.

"Hi, I'm Denise. And in case you're wondering, I'm an albino hedgehog. It's nice to meet you, Grandma and Grandpa."

"And I'm her big brother Riley. I'm a flying squirrel. Nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too. Now, come here and give Grandma and grandpa a hug."

After a tight hug between the grandkids and grandparents, Stu turned to Nick.

"Say, Nick, can I show you something?"

"Um, sure. What?"

"Take a look at this." Stu said, reaching into his pocket.

Stu pulled out a fox repellent tazer.

"What the heck? Stu, I thought you got rid of all this."

"So did I. When I showed you that picture at your Judy's wedding, I really did think that was all of it. But, well, you know how it is. Yu put things away in drawers and forget you have them. And that's what happened here. See, just the yesterday, I went looking through a drawer to find a find a screwdriver. And lo and behold, I found this. Of course, I was embarrassed to know that that was still here and I thought about smashing right then and there. But, then I thought about how you and yours were coming out today. And, I decided to just be honest with you and give it to you, so you can smash it yourself. Call it a token of good faith." Stu said, placing the device in Nick's paw.

Nick stared at the tazer. He couldn't believe this situation.

"Well, go on, Nick. I want ya to smash it."

"Well, actually, how about we smash it together?"

"Sounds like plan." Stu said, taking hold of one side of the tazer.

Nick held the other side and then looked at his father-in-law.

"On the count of three."

Stu nodded.

"One, two, three!"

The two fathers then threw the electric weapon onto the ground as hard as they could. It shattered into several pieces and even sparked a bit. After that, Nick looked at Stu again.

"Thank you, Stu."

"Think nothing of it, son."

"Now that's how you set a good example to the kids." Judy thought.


	6. Chapter 6

After Stu and Nick smashed the tazer, the whole family headed towards the Hopps family home. As they walked, Denise and Riley noticed some of their cousins over to the side of the house. One of the girls was crying.

"What's the matter?" Riley asked as he and Denise walked over.

"I tied a balloon to my favorite doll to make her fly. But, the balloon got stuck on the gutter and I can't get my doll back down."

"Say, Riley, do you think the doll would just fall down here if we popped the balloon?" Denise asked.

"Yeah, probably."

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Maneuver five?"

"Yup. Or as I like to call it, spikey leap frog."

"You gotta stop naming these things?"

"You give them numbers. Same thing."

"Whatever. Come on."

Riley got down on all fours while Denise backed up a few feet. Denise then reached behind her and broke off one of her spines.

"Ready?" She asked her brother.

"Yup. Go for it!"

Denise ran at her brother at full speed. Just before she reached him, she jumped up. She landed on his back and just as she did, he pushed off the ground as hard as he could. This launched Denise into the air. Once she was as high as she was going to go, Denise threw her spine at the balloon. The balloon exploded on contact and the doll fell to the ground. The bunny girl excitedly ran up and grabbed her precious plaything.

"Oh, thank you, thank you."

"No problem. What's family for?" Riley said.

"Just hold on to her better this time." Denise said.

"I will, I will."

"Ugh." Riley grunted and rubbed his back.

"What's wrong?" Denise asked.

"You're heavy now. You gotta go on a diet before we do that again."

"Yeah, whatever. At least you don't have to snap pieces of yourself off to make that work. My spines don't grow back that easily, you know. And we have like, what, three moves that require that I break them off?"

"At least you're not likely to end up with a broken back cause something heavy jumped on it."

"Oh shut up. I weigh less than you do."

"Kids!" The siblings heard.

They spun around to find Judy and Nick standing behind them.

"Oh, hi, mom and dad. How long have you been standing there?" Riley asked.

"Long enough to listen to you two bicker like ninnies." Nick said.

"Oh, lay off them, Nick. Siblings are supposed to argue. It just makes them brother and sister. Trust me. I have A LOT of experience with this." Judy said.

"Well, being an only child myself, I'll take your word for it. Anyway, what was that you guys?"

"That was what I call maneuver five." Riley said.

"I like to call it spikey leap frog." Denise added.

"Anyway, it was one of about ten little special moves we've come up with over the years."

"Well, that was definitely an impressive display of teamwork. So, what made you come up with these moves? Were you just bored?" Judy asked.

"No, it was because we kinda had to. You see, most of the other kids at the orphanage were bigger than us. Including the bullies. We started coming up with these moves to help even things up in a fight."

"And you said that you got into a lot of fights at the orphanage." Judy said.

"Yeah, we sure did."

"Oh, kids, I wish we could've found you sooner."

"It's okay, mom. Being here now makes all of that worth it." Riley said.

Judy felt tears come to her eyes upon hearing this from her son. She wiped her eyes and then motioned for the kids to follow her into the house. Once inside, Nick, Stu and Vivian went into the den with the kids. They intended to show them as many Hopps family photo albums as possible before dinner was ready. Meanwhile, Judy went into the kitchen with her mother.

"Okay, mom. Knowing you, about ninety-nine percent of the dinner is already done. So, what's left to do?"

"Um, desert actually. I was thinking about putting together a big blueberry pie."

"Oh you just made Nick's day then. And Riley's too, now that I think about it."

"Riley likes blueberries too?"

"He's practically addicted. I made pancakes for breakfast yesterday, and I swear that boy scarfed down about three whole stacks of six pancakes. I still haven't figured out where he was putting it all."

"Hmmm."

"What?"

"Are you sure Riley's not actually your blood son?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I can remember a certain bunny girl who had quite the appetite growing up. And I know a certain fox who's in love with blueberries. Things like that start to add up, dear."

"'Sigh' No, mom. He's not my blood son. I didn't give birth to him."

"But, I can tell by the look in your eyes that you already love him as much any biological mother would."

"Yeah, I do. Him and Denise. I'd die for those two."

Bonnie couldn't help but smile at her daughter's admission of love for her children. Bonnie reached up and gently stroked her daughter's cheek.

"Now you know how I feel about you and all your siblings."

"Yeah, I do. I love you, mom."

"I love you more, Judy. Now, come on. That pie won't make itself."

"Better make that pies. I'm pretty sure Riley and Nick are going to devour a whole one between just the two of them."

"Roger that, officer. Now let's get to work."

An hour and a half later, the kids had finished eating and asked if they could go outside a play for a bit.

"Sure. I think some of your cousins are out there already. Go have some fun with them." Bonnie said.

"Alright. Come on, sis."

"Right behind you."

The duo walked outside and looked around.

"Huh? Grandma said some of our cousins were out here. So, where are all the bunnies?" Riley asked.

At that moment, Denise heard a noise behind them. She turned to see a horde of bunnies barreling down at them from the other side of the house.

"Um, Riley?"

"Yeah? What?"

"Bunny tidal wave."

"Huh?"

Riley turned to see what his sister was on about.

"Bunny tidal wave! Run!"

The two took off running and began to be chased by their numerous cousins.

"Get them. Make them do that cool move again!" They heard one member of the horde yell.

The siblings kept running until they came to a fork in the road. One path led to the Hopps family barn, while the other ran to the garden.

"I go left, you go right!" Riley shouted.

"Got it!" Denise answered.

Denise hightailed it down the path towards the garden while Riley rushed towards the barn. The bunny horde, knowing that the garden contained the night howler flowers, veered down the barn path. Riley heard all the commotion behind him.

"Oh, jeez! Why me? I gotta get out of here!"

Riley looked up to the barn. He saw his means of escape. He pointed the grappler up high, intending to launch himself up to the open second story window of the barn. However, he accidentally aimed too high and didn't realize it before he had pressed the fire button for the second time. Riley flew towards the barn's highest point.

"Oh, crap. Not where I wanted to be. But, oh well. I'll just swing down to that window. Easy-peasy."

Riley rocked back and forth, trying to swing himself to the window. However he found out that the claw was stuck in the wood of the barn. So, his attempt at swinging wasn't happening. Riley knew he could reach the claw and unstick but he also knew that that meant a straight drop to the ground. Riley looked down and saw how far off the ground he was. He immediately started to panic.

"Help! Somebody help!"

The bunny horde finally caught up just in time to hear Riley's cries for help. They all turned around and ran back to the house. Moments later, the whole family came running.

"Riley!" Judy and Nick both yelled.

"Help! I can't get down! The claw's stuck."

"Dad, don't you have a ladder that can get up there?" Judy asked.

"We do, but we let the Dobermans down the road borrow it." Stu said.

"Riley! Just pull the claw out and float down using your membranes!" Nick yelled.

"Yeah! That's it! Do what your father said!" Judy called.

"He can't." They heard from behind them.

They turned to see Denise, who had just arrived.

"What? Why not?" Bonnie asked.

"A couple years ago, Riley was showing off his gliding skills to me. Unfortunately, it was really windy that day and the wind swept Riley away. He ended up being carried about a mile away. Ever since, he's been afraid of heights and gliding."

"Oh, my poor baby." Judy muttered.

"But, how else can we get him down? We can't reach from that upstairs window and it'll take too long to go get that ladder." Nick said.

"Judy!" Bonnie said.

"What?"

"A good mother can talk her child through even the scariest things. Show us what you got, momma."

Judy nodded and walked over to the barn. She stood right under Riley.

"Riley! Look at me!"

Riley looked down to his adoptive mother.

"Don't look at the ground. Look at only at me. Listen, honey, we can't get you down from there ourselves. You're gonna have to pull the claw loose."

"But I'll drop straight to the ground!"

"Don't worry. I promise I'll catch you. I won't let you get hurt."

"I can't. I'm too scared, mom."

"Don't be scared. Just pull out the claw and then open up your membranes. I'm not asking you to glide. I'm telling you to use them like a parachute and safely drop down to me. Just let your instincts take over."

"A, and you'll catch me?"

"I promise. Now come on!" Judy called, opening her arms wide.

Riley swallowed hard and then reached up to the claw. He pulled it loose and immediately dropped. He let his instincts take control and his body automatically slid into the proper position. His membranes caught just enough air to slow his descent. He drifted down, right into Judy's waiting arms.

"There. I gotcha. You're okay now. Momma's here."

Riley sobbed into Judy's shoulder. Judy's natural, motherly instincts kicked in and she gently rubbed Riley's back until he calmed down. When he stopped crying, she wiped his eyes and kissed his forehead.

"You were very brave, Riley. Denise told us about what happened to you a few years ago. Doing this took a lot of guts on your part. I'm proud of you." Judy cooed while hugging her son.

An hour later, the Wilde's decided to head home.

"Don't be strangers!" Stu yelled as the family drove off.

Nick was now driving and he decided to take a different route back home. He told Judy that he had looked into it, and found out that this route was actually faster than the one Judy was used to.

"We'll see." Judy said simply.

An hour later, Judy had to admit they were making excellent time. She began to seriously consider making this the main route from now on. Just then, Riley noticed a large cemetery they were driving passed.

"Stop the car!" Riley yelled.

"Why, baby? Are you sick or something?" Mrs. Wilde asked.

"No, I recognize this cemetery. This is where my parents are buried."

"What? Really?" Judy asked.

"Yeah. I had Mr. Joeyson look it up. He showed me a picture of it and promised to take me there one day. But, he never got around to it. Can we stop? Please."

"Jude?" Nick asked.

"Like you need to ask. Get us in that graveyard."

The family drove into the cemetery and then went to the office to ask where the graves were. The manager there directed them right to them. The family walked up to the graves. They were plain with simple tombstones.

"Mom, dad…" Riley muttered.

Nick felt that they should give Riley some space. So, he thought of an excuse to walk away.

"Um, hey, mom, aren't some of our relatives buried around here?"

"Now that you mention it, yes, there are. Let's go check on their graves."

"Okay. Come on, Denny. Jude, you coming?"

Judy noticed a large field of flowers on the other side of a nearby fence.

"Um, you go on ahead. I wanna look at something."

"Alright. Come on, guys."

As Nick and the others walked off, Judy went and hopped over the fence. She picked a sizeable bouquet of flowers and then returned to the graves. She knelt down and divided the bouquet in half, then placed the halves on the graves.

"It's customary to bring flowers when visiting loved ones' graves. I hope these are good enough." She said to Riley.

"They're pretty."

Judy walked over and put her around her son's shoulders.

"You okay, honey?"

"I don't know. I never thought about what I'd do when I got here."

"Cry."

"What?"

"Cry. I know you want to. I can see the tears forming in the corners of your eyes. Don't hold back, Riley. You're here with your parents. You don't have act tough in front of us."

Right after Judy said this, Riley began to break down. He was soon bawling.

"I miss them so much, mom."

"I know you do, sweetie. But, think about this. I heard what good people they were, so I'm positive that they are up there and they are looking down on us. They're watching over you, baby. Because they love you. Now and forever."

"Yeah. Just like you?"

"Of course."

"Hey, mom?"

"Hmm?"

Riley turned and hugged Judy.

"Thank you for being here. For adopting me. For helping me through that scary mess earlier. I've always tried to be so tough and independent. But, now, I don't know what I'd do without you. I just wanna say thank you."

"Not a problem, baby." Judy said, returning the hug.

"I, I love you, mom."

"I love you too, Riley."


	7. Chapter 7

The next day, the Wilde family sat around the breakfast table. They were discussing what to do today while eating breakfast.

"You know, Nick, we have plenty of time until Mr. Big's car will come to pick us up." Judy said.

"Yeah, and?"

"Well, I was thinking that maybe we could go see a movie. What's that new superhero one that just came out?"

"Captain Savannah: civil war?"

"That's it. Let's go see that."

"Well, that sounds like a plan to me. And, if the looks on the kids' faces are any indication, I think they really like the idea too. And you know what? I just thought of something else we should do."

"What's that?"

"Well, the quickest route to the nearest theater will take us right by our station. I think we should pop in and introduce the kids to the gang."

"Oh, yeah. Good point. Okay, that's the plan then. Um, do you have your phone on you? Mine's charging in the living room."

"Yeah, I got it right here."

"Check the show times."

"Alrighty."

Nick punched in the necessary data and soon had what he wanted.

"Okay. The showings start at eleven thirty. The next one after that is at one forty-five. And ten five o'clock."

"Well, I think we should get ourselves together, go to the station, hang out for bit and let the kids meet their aunts and uncles in the force, then go see the movie and then after that, we can stop somewhere for lunch. Then we come home, rest for a little bit and then gussy ourselves up in time for the car to pick us up."

Nick began to snicker.

"What?"

"Boy, you can tell that you're from the sticks originally. I mean, what city girl says gussy?"

"Oh be quiet."

"Come on its funny. You think so, right, Riley?"

"Um, not really. I mean, it is a funny word but, just because mom's from the country and she said it, that doesn't automatically make it funny."

"Oh jeez. I was afraid of this. Riley's turned into a momma's boy."

"And Denny is obviously a daddy's girl. But we're all one tight little family. That's all that matters." Judy said.

"That's not my point."

"Oh, I know what your point is, dear. I'm just completely ignoring it."

"Oh, whatever." Nick huffed.

"I love you." Judy said in a mocking, sing song voice.

"Hmph."

"Um, please, don't fight, you guys." Denise fretted.

"Oh, no, Denny. Mommy and daddy aren't fighting. This is just one of those funny little back-and-forth's that married couples just do. And no one is really mad. Both people know that everything's a big joke. Right, Nick?"

Nick cracked a grin.

"Yeah. You don't have to worry, Denny. All's good in the kingdom."

"Um, okay. I don't really get it though."

"You will when you're older and married yourself." Judy assured her daughter.

"Well, come on, everybody. It's gonna take a bit for all of us to get showered and changed. Let's get a move on." Nick said.

"Kids, you go first. I wanna talk to your dad about something."

"Um, is it lovey-dovey couple stuff?" Riley asked, with a disturbed look on his face.

"Wouldn't you like to know, son?" Judy said, arching her eyebrows.

"Ew." The kids said together.

"Just get going. Riley, you take the main shower. Denise, you can use the one attached to our bedroom."

"Yes, ma'am." The kids said and left.

The kids walked up to the top of the steps. Riley then turned to Denise.

"So, where did ya hide it?"

"Under the table. And I got a recorder I found going in my room to record what gets said."

"Nice going sis. Man, I'm glad we decided to try out those mics this morning."

"Yeah, me too. He he. I love playing spy."

"Alright, we'd better hit the showers so they don't suspicious."

"Right."

Meanwhile, Judy was talking to Nick.

"So, did you check everything?"

"Yup. No micro mics to be found anywhere in our room."

"Good. So, like I said last night, I was thinking that the kids could use some wheels. So, I was thinking we should go to the store and buy them some bikes."

"No argument here. And luckily, I think I saw that a sale was going to be going on today on TV last night."

"Excellent. But remember, don't give it away. I wanna surprise them."

"No problem there. You know I'm a good actor. But, um, do you think they already know how to ride?"

"No idea. But that's the beauty of this plan. If they already know, then hey, they get to start having fun right away. If not, then we get to teach them how to ride. I mean, that's a rite of passage moment for families."

"Yeah, it is. And I think you're kinda hoping they don't know how to ride, so you'll get to teach them."

"I will not confirm or deny that."

"Pleading the fifth, huh? Eh, whatever. So, did you notice what I did?"

"No, what did you notice?"

"Well, it seems that regardless of whether their blood or adopted, kids seem to be universally disgusted by the idea of their parents having a little PDA."

"Yeah, I guess. So, let's do them a favor and keep our PDA moments for when they aren't around."

"No way. It's way funnier to do it when they are around."

"Nick…"Judy said, rolling her eyes.

"Okay, I get' , any ideas on what wear today?"

"A few. Come on. Let's go lay the kids' clothes out and then pick our own."

"Right behind ya, fluff."

A short time later, the kids were waiting for their parents to get showered and changed. They listened to the tape Denise had recorded. They high-fived each other when they heard the bikes idea be brought up. Then they both grimaced in disgust when the short-lived lovey-dovey talk came up. They made sure to erase the tape right after this and Denise put the recorder back where she found it. She then went and collected her hidden mic from the bottom of the table.

"Hey Denise, since you're the smallest, do you think you can sneak into mom and dad's room without mom noticing from the shower?" Riley questioned.

"Yeah. Why?"

"Cause, if they're gonna talk about what to buy us for gifts for different holidays and birthdays, they'll do it when we aren't around. Like when we're at school and they're at work. So, I think we should put one of those mics on one of their cop uniforms. I mean, we'll probably hear a bunch of boring small talk, some police talk and maybe some lovey-dovey stuff, ew, but we might also get a few juicy clues to future presents."

"Big bro, have I mentioned that I love the way you think?"

"Not lately."

"Well, I do. So, where do I put it?"

"Um, under the collar. And, put it on dad's uniform. His collar is bigger, so it'll be easier to hide it."

"I'm on it."

Denise crept inside her parent's bedroom, careful to keep out of her mother's line of sight. She quickly planted the mic under the collar of Nick's uniform and then dashed out of the room. Riley high-fived her again and then they went to watch cartoons until their parents were ready. As soon as Judy and Nick were done, they headed down stairs.

"Okay, kids. You ready?" Judy asked.

"We've been ready for ages, mom." Riley said.

"Funny, you don't look ages old. Anyway, come on, let's go."

The family Wilde headed to the store first. The kids did their best to act surprised when they 'discovered' that they were getting bikes. Nick loaded the boxes into the back while Judy double checked to make sure the helmets they also got fit properly.

"Okay, mom. It's on. You're crushing my ears now." Riley complained.

"Sorry. I just wanna protect that precious noggin of yours, honey. Oh, by the way, did you guys learn how to ride a bike in the orphanage?"

"Yeah. There were a few community bikes that all of us orphans took turns with. And Mr. Joeyson taught us all how to ride." Denise said, while taking off her helmet.

"Shoot, I was hoping you'd say no. I wanted to teach you."

"Um, I could pretend I don't know what I'm doing."

"No, that's okay, honey. Just enjoy your bike."

"I will."

"Me too." Riley added.

"Yeah, once we get home and get them put together. Anyway, next stop, the police station. Let's go." Nick said.

The family was soon on their way to the station. Judy and Nick did their best to give a rundown of the characters the kids were likely to meet. They were still listing people off as they pulled into the parking lot.

"Alrighty, guys. Time for you to check out where mommy and daddy work." Judy said.

The family headed inside. Naturally, the chubby cheetah known as Benjamin Clawhauser was the first to notice them from the front desk.

"Nick! Judy! What are you guys doing here?"

"Hey, Ben. We were heading to the movie theater and we decided to show the kids where we work." Judy said.

"Kids?"

Judy and Nick stepped aside to reveal Riley and Denise.

"O-m-goodness. Aren't you two the cutest things? Oh, sorry, Judy."

"It's okay. They are cute."

"Um, mom, is cute a bad word?" Denise questioned.

"Well, depending on the situation, it can be. See, cute is a word that a bunny like myself can say to another bunny with no problems. But, when another mammal says it to one of us, it can sometimes be seen as an insult. See, my species got called cute so much over the many years our world has been around that we kinda got sick of hearing it and it became a bad word to us. So, now, bunnies 'own' that word and we are the only people who can use it. But, since you're my darling children and thus honorary bunnies, you're free to use cute as you like. You can even call me cute."

"Actually, I was thinking pretty worked better to describe you, mom."

"Aw, thanks, honey. I think you're pretty too. Now then, introductions. Ben, this is our son and daughter that we adopted a few days ago. This Denise, our daughter."

"Hi." Denise said with a broad smile.

"And our son, Riley."

"Hey there."

"Nice to meet you guys. And congratulations, mommy and daddy. Oh! Wait a minute. You've got two and their both diffrerent species."

"Yeah, and?" Nick asked.

"That means I won the bet."

"Bet? What bet?" Nick asked.

"Well, we all kinda knew you guys were gonna go through with the adoption you've been talking about while you were on vacation. So, we started taking bets on how many you'd get and if they'd be bunnies, foxes or something else. I picked two and said they would both be something entirely different from you guys and each other. And I was right! I'm gonna be swimming in doughnuts for the next month!" Clawhauser said giddily.

"Well, glad we could make your day." Nick said, uneasily.

"Ahem. Anyway, where you guys got them enrolled in school?"

"Alexander Pawson." Judy said.

"Pawson? Oh, that's great. They'll go school with my nephew, Dash. You know, I'm playing pseudo-parent to him right now?"

"Really? How's that work?" Judy asked.

"Well, my brother, Dash's father, and my sister-in-law are business people. And they travel far and wide to help spread their company's influence. Right now, they're on an extended trip to the other side of the globe to help set up an HQ there. So, I was left in charge of Dash. I hope you guys get along, kids." Clawhauser said to the youngsters.

"Well, well, well. Looks like you won, Clawhauser." Came a voice.

Everyone looked to see a tiger officer coming up to them.

"Oh, hey, Peter." Judy said.

"Hey, Judy. Nice to see you guys. So, these guys are the chosen ones, huh?"

"Yup. This is Riley and Denise, our son and daughter."

"Nice to meet you kids. Officer Peter Delgato, at your service."

"Wait, Delgato? Pete, does your wife or sister or any female relative at all happen to work at Alexander Pawson?"

"You mean Pawson Elementary? Yeah, my wife, Tasha, does. Why?"

"Well, when I enrolled the kids there, I was told that they would get the last two seats available in a 's class."

"Well, then they're in my wife's capable hands. I'm sure you'll love having Tasha for a teacher guys."

"I sure hope so." Denise said.

"Hey, I'm gonna call the chief down. He should meetthe two newest members of our big ol' family too." Clawhauser said.

Clawhauser called Chief Bogo and soon the cape buffalo appeared. Denise was at first intimidated by the chief's gruff and hardened look. Riley instinctively stood in front of her to protect her.

"Oh, relax you two. The chief might look and act tough, but it's a well-known fact that he has a soft spot for children." Judy said.

"Watch it, Wilde." Bogo said.

"Which one were you referring to, sir? Mister or Missus? Or perhaps, you mean one of the younger Wilde family members?" Nick asked.

"Shut it, fox. Anyway, it's nice to meet you kids. I'm chief Bogo. I'm your parents' boss. Now, on behalf of ZPD, let me welcome you to the family."

"The family?" Denise questioned.

"Well, sure, dear. See, once officers like you're parents earn their keep around here, they're part of family. A brother slash sisterhood. And, if they happen to have children, then the kids are automatically part of the family. Just consider everybody here an aunt or an uncle."

"Um, can we call you uncle Bogo then?" Denise asked.

"When in private like this, sure, why not? But, if we end up at some kind of public function, remember to keep it as chief."

"Roger that, chief!" The kids said together and saluted.

Everyone chuckled and then Bogo looked at the kids seriously.

"Listen kids. What we do here is very important. And sometimes, we have to take work home with us to 'study' it more. And you're parents are no exception to that. So, I know you can't help overhearing things every now and then, but please, for our sakes and for the city's sake, don't repeat anything you might hear or see. Keep it as one big secret, okay?"

"You got it, uncle Bogo." Riley said.

"Good. Now, with that being said, Clawhauser, use that computer of yours to call up the missing chemicals case."

"Right, chief."

Clawhauser soon had the case up on screen.

"Not long after you went on vacation, Wilde's, a rash of strange thefts started accuring. Everything that was stolen was various labs and warehouses owned by Gene-co. They're in process of creating bonding agents to use in medical procedures."

"Bonding agents, sir?"

"Yes, you see, medical science has come a long way in recent years. We've made major improvements in the use of implants and tissue transfers for healing the sick and afflicted. However, sometimes, a mammal's body will still reject foreign tissue, even if it's an almost perfect match. That's where Gene-co's bonding agents come in. They create a chemical 'bridge' that allows for an almost one hundred percent success rate in the absorption and proper utilization of surgically transferred tissue. For example, let's say my niece got burned really bad and needed a skin graft. I'm more than willing to give it to her, but her body for whatever reason still rejects it. But, with these agents in place, her body would almost certainly absorb the tissue from me and use it to heal like we'd all it to, putting her on the fast track to recovery."

"Wow, that's amazing." Nick said.

"The wonders of modern science." Judy added.

"Indeed. However, some on has been stealing the agents of Gene-co. And don't know why. It'd be darn near impossible to sell them, even on the black market. Also, they aren't trying to ransom them and they can't be really be used to make other kinds of chemicals."

"So, no clear motif. That definitely makes this harder." Judy said.

"All we on the crooks right now is this video taken from a security camera on the outside of a bank near one of the warehouses that was robbed. Play it, Clawhauser."

Everyone watched the short clip. It showed five canine-esque mammals pulling up a truck to the warehouse and then breaking the lock on the door. They then begin to load barrels full of the bonding agent onto their truck. All the while, a smaller mammal was clearly ordering them around.

"As you can see, the video is not the best quality. It's a bit grainy and it's dark. Which makes spotting details difficult. However, we have noticed that the ones loading the barrels do have a distinctly canine silhouette. And, we also believe that the small one is their boss. Beyond that, we have nothing."

"Um, can you rewind the video a little bit, uncle Ben?" Riley asked.

"Um, sure. Tell me where to stop."

"Keep going, keep going. Stop! Right there! See that?"

"I don't see anything. What are we looking at?" Officer Delgato asked.

"Look at the side of truck. See that little bit of light hitting it?"

"Yeah."

"Well, if you look closely you can see a little bit of the boss's reflection on the truck thanks to that light. It's only of his back, but I can still make out the shape of his tail. Looks like a beaver's tail."

"Huh. All this time we've had this and nobody ever noticed that. But now that you point it out, I can't not see it. Them's so good eyes you've got, son." Chief Bogo said.

"So, the bad guy's boss is a beaver?" Denise asked.

"Maybe, but platypuses also have tails like that." Nick said.

"Well, in any case, it narrows our field of suspects from all mammals of that size to specifically beavers and platypuses." Chief Bogo said.

"That's still a pretty broad spectrum." Judy said.

"It's better than we had five minutes ago. So then, Wilde's, go enjoy the last week of your vacation. I'll email you all the details to your secure link at home. Study everything as much as you can. Heck, you can even use your kids for a couple extra sets of eyes, as long as they keep they're promise."

"You got it chief." Nick said.

"We'll be on this case like white on rice when we get back." Judy said.

"Good to hear. But for now, get outta here. Go be a family for now."

"Yes sir. Come on guys, we still got a movie to go see." Nick said and lead the family out the door.


	8. Chapter 8

The next week went by really quickly, with Nick and Judy dividing their time between studying the chemicals case files and spending time with their kids. Finally, the day came for the parent's to return to work. Since the kids didn't have to go to school yet, it was decided that Nick's mom would watch over them until the parents got off.

"Okay, mom. We need to get going. Are you going to be okay?" Nick asked.

"I'm sure we will be. Just go kick butt and bust bad guys."

"Well, it's more like pencil pushing today, but we'll try." Judy said.

Judy then knelt down and hugged her son and daughter before kissing them both on the cheek.

"Alright, guys. You be good for grandma and we'll see you at about four thirty."

"Bye, mom. Bye, dad. Do something cool and get on the news. That way we can brag about you." Riley said.

"We'll try, sweetheart. Well, come on, Nick."

With a couple of quick waves, the parents left.

"So, kids, what do you wanna do now?" Grandma Wilde asked.

"What time is it?" Riley asked.

"Um, oh, it's six forty-five. Your parents had better hurry if they're gonna get to work by seven." The grandmother said while checking her watch.

"Yeah, well, I'm gonna go back to sleep. Wake me up at lunch time." Riley said and immediately headed into the living room.

"Boy, he sure doesn't like being up early, does he?"

"Nope. Never has. But he'd better get used to it."

"Yeah, cause I think the plan is that you'll be staying with me every day until your parents get off work. And then there's school."

"Yeah. Well, at least he can sleep in on the weekends."

"True. So, Den, sweetie, what do you want to do?"

"Um, I don't know. I never had a grandma till now, so I don't know what grandkids are supposed to do with their grandma's."

"Yeah, I guess you wouldn't."

Denise's eyes noticeably lowered.

"Oh, I'm sorry, sweetie. I didn't mean it like that. But that was still insensitive. I'm sorry."

"It's okay, grandma. So, what do you think we should do?"

"Hmmm. Oh! I have an idea. Denny, do you know how to play an instrument?"

"An instrument?"

"Yeah. Like a guitar or something like that."

"Um, no. But, I'd like to learn how."

"Well, you're in luck, little girl. Because, not only do I know how to play the guitar, but I have two of them upstairs."

"Two?" Denise asked excitedly.

"Yup. See, I'm a bit sentimental. I never threw away too many of the things you're dad had as a kid. See, I learned how to play as a kid, so I taught Nick how when he was young. I even got him his own child sized guitar. I think it'll be just the right size for you. I hope you like blue."

"Second favorite color." Denise said with a cute grin.

"What's your favorite?"

"Yellow."

"Duly noted. Now come on."

Sometime later, Riley had finally woken up. He heard the sound of the guitars and followed it. He walked into his grandmother's bedroom to find her and Denise sitting on the bed. Denise was intently studding every pluck of the strings that her grandmother made. Grandma Wilde happened to look up.

"Oh, look who got up. The couch finally stop being comfy?" Grandma Wilde kidded.

"Now I see where dad gets his attitude from."

Grandma Wilde laughed at this.

"Yeah, I guess he got it from me."

"What his dad like, Grandma? All we know about him is that he left when dad was little."

"Sam was very business savvy. He was very sharp when it came to money and things like that. But, he was so career minded that he wanted nothing to get in his way. Including a family. I got tired of trying to change him into a family man and filed for divorce shortly after he left us. Looking back, I'm surprised he married me to begin with."

"Um, was Wilde your last name before you got married? I heard ladies take their husband's last name when they get married." Denise said.

"No. My maiden name was Furrose."

"That's kinda pretty. Why'd you keep Wilde?"

"Honestly? I was too lazy to go to the courthouse to get it changed back. And by the time I thought to try, the sound of Vivian Wilde had already grown on me."

"I see. Well, I like the sound of Denise Wilde more than Furrose too."

"Agreed. Well, these old fingers of mine are tired, dear. I'm afraid that's it for the guitar lesson today."

"That was plenty, grandma. Um, I'll just leave the guitar here so we can always practice and play together when I'm here."

"Fine by me, dear. So, now, what do you guys want to do?"

"Um, well, normally I'd shy away from lovey-dovey stuff, but mom said that you recorded her and dad's wedding." Denise said.

"Right."

"Well, I was wondering, do you have a copy like they do? Mom promised to show us, but she hasn't gotten around to it yet."

"Of course I have a copy. Come on."

A little while later.

"Ew! Mom and dad are kissing!" Denise said.

"Come on, Grandma. Fast forward it." Riley said.

"Oh you kids. Romantic stuff like this might seem gross to you now, but in a few years, it'll be on your minds constantly."

"Yeah, right, Grandma. Ain't no way I'll ever think about this nasty stuff." Riley said.

"We'll see, Riley. We'll see. Now, then, here comes the part you've been waiting for."

Once the cake scene played, Denise and Riley fell into the floor laughing uncontrollably.

"That's too freaking funny!" Riley called out.

"Oh sweet cheese and crackers! That's the funniest thing I've seen in a long time." Denise said.

"Huh."

"What?" Denise asked.

"I think your mother is rubbing off on you, Denise."

"What are you talking about, Grandma?" Denise asked.

"Oh nothing. Say, I have an idea. Just thought of it. There's a really nice park a few blocks from here. It's got a bunch of swings, slides and other cool things to play on. Do you want to go?"

"Yes please!" Both kids said.

"Alright then. Let's go."

The trio soon arrived at the park. The kids promptly went nuts, trying everything they could.

"Race ya to the top of the jungle gym, Den."

"You're on!"

The young mammals scrambled up the metal structure. Riley won due to his slightly longer limbs giving him greater reach.

"Wow! Look at this view. You can see the whole park from up here." Riley said.

"Yeah, sure is nice."

The two scanned the park from atop their perch.

"Um, Riley?"

"Huh?"

"Look over at the swings. Looks like trouble."

Riley looked over to what his sister was talking about. There were a bunch of kids standing near the swings. They seemed to be watching two kids by the swings.

"Think we should look into it?" Denise asked.

"Yeah. Come on." Riley said.

Riley and Denise walked over to the source of the commotion. They found a tall for his age cheetah child trying to muscle a young bear girl out of her swing.

"I said get out. This is my favorite swing. It goes the highest. So I always get it when I'm here." The cheetah cub said.

"But I just got here. I'm nowhere near done yet."

"You're done when I say you're done. Now get up!"

"Hey!" Riley yelled.

Everyone turned to the face the young flying squirrel.

"She said she's not done. So go find something else to do until she is."

"And just who the heck are you?"

"My name's Riley. Riley Wilde. Maybe you've heard of my parents?"

"Oh! So you're the son of the famous officers Wilde."

"Yes, I am."

"So what? You think that makes you special. You're parents are, but that mean squat about you."

"And you think just because you're bigger than everybody else here, that means you can just push people around?"

"Yeah. Pretty much."

"Man, guys like the worst. I remember one doofus in the orphanage I grew up in that was like you."

"Oh yeah? And what happened to him?"

"He made the mistake of challenging me and my sister here to fight. He came out of it with two black eyes. And by the way, he was a lion and bigger than you."

"Oh so you managed to beat up a lion cub by playing two on one? How strong you must be."

"For your information, I just made sure the cub didn't fight dirty. Riley here is the one who fought him mano y mano." Denise clarified.

"Yeah, I bet. Now, why don't you two posers run off before things get ugly?" the cub said, while snapping his fingers.

Suddenly two more kids stepped up behind the cheetah. One was a badger boy and the other a bat. Denise raised an eye brow at the bat.

"Wait. I recognize you. You're Dustin. Dustin Echoson. Remember us? Riley and Denise from Mr. Joeyson's orphanage? We used to play together at the park near the orphanage until your family moved to this part of town a few years ago."

"Screech, you know these two?" The cheetah asked.

"No, I got idea who they are."

"You sure? Cause she knows your real name."

"Must've heard somewhere. I promise you, I've never seen them before, Dash."

"Dustin…" Denise said broken hearted.

"Wait, Dash? You're last name wouldn't happen to be Clawhauser would it?" Riley asked.

"Yeah, and?"

"Hey, we just met your uncle ben the other day at the zpd station. He said he hoped we'd all get along."

"Yeah, uncle ben's a big, sappy softy too. You want us to get along? Then kick the bear cub out the swing for me. Otherwise, well, I think you can tell."

Riley and Denise noticed they were being surrounded in a triangle pattern by the three bullies.

"Denise, maneuver seven."

"But, Dusty…"

"He's Screech now. And we don't know a screech. Just think of it as teaching Dusty lesson. That nicknames aren't worth turning your back on your friends."

"Got it. Manuever seven it is. Or as I like to call it, soccer spines!"

Denise rolled into a ball and Riley kicked her into the badger boy's face. He grimaced as her spines dug into his foot, but it was worth it. As she bounced off the badger, Riley jumped up and did a back flip in order to kick Denise into their former bat friend.

"Sorry, Dusty. But somebody has to knock some sense into you." Denise said as she unfurled.

"Ack!" Riley called out.

Denise turned to see that Dash had a hold of Riley's tail.

"Riley! Let him go!"

"Sure, but let me show you a cool trick I can do. I call it the flying squirrel."

Dash spun around rapidly using his natural cheetah speed and threw Riley straight up when he came to a stop. The momentum carried Riley high into the air.

"Oh no! Riley!" Denise panicked.

Riley could see the ground coming up fast. That's when he heard Judy's voice in his head telling him to let his instincts take control again. Riley did just that and his body shifted into a proper gliding position. He caught some wind and flew above the crowd. He landed on tree branch nearby.

"Whoa. I did it. I did it! I glided. I can glide again!"

"He overcame his fear. That's my big bro." Denise thought.

"What the? What the heck are you?" Dash said.

"Did you think these things were just for show? They ain't just part of my clothes Dash! They're part of my body. See, you called that move the flying squirrel, but I really am one. And you might be fast, but you can't fly!" Riley shouted and jumped from the branch.

He glided quickly right at Dash and bowled the cheetah cub over with a flying tackle. Dash popped up with his claws exteneded just as Riley landed.

"That's it! You're dead, Wilde!"  
"Dash!" Came a familiar voice.

Everyone turned to see Ben Clawhauser coming up.

"Uncle Ben?"

"Seriously, Dash? I leave you alone for just a few minutes to go to the corner store and you do this? What are you thinking? I seriously can't enjoy my day off, can i?"

"But, Uncle ben?"

"I don't want to hear it. Go to the car."

Dash stared hatefully at Riley then walked off.

"Riley? Denise? What happened here?' Clawhauser questioned.

Just then, Grandma Wilde interjected.

"You're nephew was picking on that bear cub on the swings. Riley and Denise stepped in to stop him. And it ended up becoming a fight."

"I see. Don't worry. I'll deal with him. Uh, try to enjoy the park guys. And sorry for the trouble."

"Uncle Ben, please, don't do anything too bad to him. It'll only make things worse when we get back to school." Riley said.

"I'm sorry, Riley. I'm his guardian. It's my job to punish him when he does wrong. But I'll make sure he knows better than to mess with you next time."

"Well, that's great. Now, come on kids. I'm tired of this place. We're leaving." Grandma Wilde said.

"Uh-oh. We're in trouble." Denise said.

"Not with me you're not. I just can't stand bullies or the places they show up. You're parents on the other hand, well, that's a different story. I have to tell them."

"So, yeah, we're in trouble." Riley said.

Hours later, Nick and Judy arrived to pick the kids up. Grandma Wilde told them what happened.

"They did what?" Judy yelled.

"Judy, calm down. You just heard that they had a good reason." Nick said.

"Fighting is still not the answer, Nick."

"Look just go wait in the car. I'll talk to them."

Riley came around the corner.

"No, just me, dad. Denise didn't want to get involved in the fight. I made her. She's innocent."

"Then Denny, you go sit in the car with your mom. Riley, you and me need to talk."

"Right."

The father and son walked into the living room.

"Sit." Nick said, pointing to the couch.

"Is the part the where you yell at me and tell me how dumb I am for fighting?"

"Well, I should. But, I know you did it for the reason. And I know the way you grew up. Fighting you're way out of situations like that is what you know. But, Rile, your mom was right. Fighting isn't always the answer. Now I get it. A punch to the face gets your point across a lot faster than a bunch of words, but that doesn't you shouldn't talk it out first. Riley, you're smarter than this. I know you are. I believe that you and your sister are the kinds of mammals this city needs in its future to make it great. Guys like you leading the way to brighter day. But you can't do it if you stay in the hospital from fighting too much."

"I'm sorry, dad. I just wanted to help."

"I know you did. You did the right thing. It just ended up going wrong way. You've got to learn how to manage things better, son. After all, I need to trust you to keep your head clear when Denise needs somebody and me and your mom aren't around. Riley, you don't know how much you really mean to Denise. Riley you are her big brother. Always have been, way before it was official. And, young mammals like Denise, in the absence of proper parents, latch on to older siblings for role models. You might not realize it but you have helped a lot in shaping Denise into who she is now. See, without a mom or dad around, kids like you become the closest things to a parent that the kids Denise have. In a weird way, you have been both her big brother, and a 'father figure'."

"Father?"

"Well, close enough. She's learned how to handle things from watching you. So you got to set a good example. And fighting on the playground, and slipping hidden microphones into your dad's clothes are not the way to do it."

"How did you know about that?"

"Riley, did you really think I wasn't going to check all the time to see if you guys planted one of those mics to spy on us? I found it the very next day after you planted it on my uniform collar."

"Oh, sorry about that, dad. I made Denny do that."

"Now see, I know she did it because she wanted to. Just like how I know she got involved in that fight because she wanted to have your back. But you're taking all the blame to protect her. That shows me the kind of heart you've got. You're a kind soul, Rile. And you're brave too. And you know it takes twice as much bravery to fight with words as it does to use fists. I know talking it out is harder, but I believe you are someone who can rally people to his cause with just words. You just gotta try. Okay?"

"Okay, dad. I will."


	9. Chapter 9

The next few days went by without incident. It seemed that Clawhauser was keeping his nephew away from the park, which was fine by Riley and Denise. Over the course of these days, the kids had gotten to know the bear cub Riley had stood up for quite well. Her name was Wendy Lockes and she couldn't be more thankful for the kids' intervention. Wendy was shy by nature and wouldn't have stood up to Dash, even if she really wanted to. She proved to be a great balancing agent between the rowdier Riley and the more neutral but easily swayed Denise. At least, that's what Grandma Wilde thought. Riley and Denise were just happy to have a friend they could see all the time.

"So, Wen, where do you go to school?" Denise asked as she and the cub swung on the swings.

"Alexander Pawson. I'll be in the third grade this year."

"No kidding. That's where we'll be going. Third grade too."

"Really? Cool. So, whose class do you have?"

"Mrs. Delgato's."

"Aw, geez. I wish I had hers. I've heard so many good things about her. I have Mr. Tuskerton. He's supposed to be extremely boring."

"Tuskerton…tusk…"

"What's the matter, Denny?"

"Oh, it's nothing."

"Den, I haven't known you that long, but I do know something is wrong. Your face tells me that much. So, come on. I'm your friend, right?"

"Yeah. Okay. That name reminded me of the last time I was around mammals with tusks."

"I'm guessing it didn't go well?"

"No. No, it didn't. See, hedgehogs like me aren't supposed to be white like I am. I have albinism, which means I'm an albino. It makes my fur white and my eyes red."

"You're eyes are red? Huh, I never noticed till now."

"Oh, ha ha."

"No, I'm serious. Den, when I look at you, I see a girl my age with pretty white fur. I kinda wish my fur was like yours. It's cute."

"Hey, don't call me cute. Cute is offensive to honorary bunnies like me."

"Huh?"

Denise explained the relationship between bunnies and the word cute.

"Oh, I see. I'm sorry. I didn't know."

"It's okay. I didn't know until just the other day when my mom explained it to me. Heck, I didn't know I counted as honorary bunny either. I've been learning a lot since I finally found a family."

"Yeah, I can tell. I hope you live a really long time, so you can learn all kinds of things."

"Same here for you too. Anyway, the last time I was around tusked animals was when my dad took me to an ice cream shop run by elephants the other day. The elephant at the front started pointing out my fur and my eyes. He was talking about them like I have some kind disease you can catch. And he got the whole place to stare at me."

"Like some kind of freak?"

"Yup. And my dad was quick to yell at everybody for doing it. I could tell that he made those people feel bad."

"Well, good. They should feel bad. Denny, your fur and eyes make you different. And different is good."

"My dad said the same thing."

"Your dad is a smart guy."

"Yeah, he is. And I love him so much. Heck, mom's even said that I'm a daddy's girl."

"Nothing wrong with that. I'm one too."

"Like my mom's said before. Kid, you and I are gonna get along famously."

"I think so. BFF?" Wendy asked, extending her paw to Denise.

"You better believe it!" Denise called out and grabbed Wendy's paw.

"Say, speaking of friends, where's your brother?"

"Um, I don't know. Riley? Riley!" Denise called as she got off the swing.

"Booyah!" Denise heard behind her.

She turned to see Riley gliding in low towards her. She ducked out of instinct and floated down to the ground a few feet away.

"Whew! Wow, I missed doing that."

"Well, I didn't! Where'd you even swoop down from?"

"Over there." Riley said, pointing to a tall tree.

"How high up were you, Riley?" Wendy asked, joining the siblings.

"Um, I'd say up to about the third branch from the top."

"How'd you climb up that high?"

"Climb nothing. I got this baby." Riley said, rubbing the grappler on his wrist.

"That thing got you up that high?"

"Yup. It's a cool toy my dad's uncle made for him when he was a kid. Grandma gave it to me the first time we met her. And I've learned how to use it really well. Here, watch this."

Riley pointed the grappler at the tree again. He fired the claw and was soon up in the branches.

"Woohoo! I will never get tired of this thing!"

"Well, you better cause I don't think they'll let you take it with you to school!" Denise yelled.

"That does look like fun though. Too bad I'm too big of a scaredy-cat to try it." Wendy said.

"Don't let my brother hear that you want to try that. Because the next thing you know, the grappler will be on your wrist and you will be up in that tree. And you will not get a choice. Scared or not, if he hears that you'd like to try it, you're gonna do it."

"I'll keep that in mind." Wendy said hesitantly.

"Kids! Come on! It's time to head back. Your parents will be back soon." Grandma Wilde called as she walked up.

"Okay, Grandma! Come on, Riley!"

Riley jumped from the branch and began to glide. However, his rotten luck with the fickle wind kicked in. The wind began to lift him beyond his control again.

"Oh crap. Not again!"

"Oh no!" Grandma Wilde yelled.

"Riley!" Denise shouted.

Just then, a lithe figure rushed passed the grandmother and kids. It jumped up, bounced off a tree, then off a nearby wall. This got it the height it needed to reach Riley and snatch him out of midair.

"Gothca!" said a familiar voice from the figure.

Riley looked to see who had him.

"Mom!"

Judy and Riley landed harmlessly on the ground as everyone else rushed in.

"Mom! What are you doing here?" Denise yelled excitedly.

"Well, we were on our way to pick you up and we happened to see Riley shooting around with his grappler. So, we thought to stop and pick you up here. A good call it seems."

"Thanks mom. I'm glad I can glide again but, I guess I still need a little work on wind control."

"I think some lessons in skydiving would probably help you. There's gotta be some books we can get at the library. Anyway, who's your friend?"

"Oh, hi, Officer Wilde. My name's Wendy. Your kids helped me out the other day."

"Oh, so you're the cub that Riley fought Dash over."

"Um, yes? Listen, I'm sorry about that. I'm really shy by nature so I can't stand up to bullies. That's why I was glad Riley and Denise stepped in. But, I had no idea that it would end up like that. And, um, Dash did threaten them. They were defending themselves."

"It's okay, Wendy. As long as it doesn't happen again. It won't, right kids?"

"No, ma'am." The kids said together.

"Good. Well, Wendy, the kids will see you tomorrow. It's time for us to go home. But, say, if you want, since we're off on the weekends, you could come over to our house on Saturday."

"Really?"

"Yup. Just talk to your parents and get the okay. Let the kids know what they say tomorrow."

"Thank you, Officer Wilde."

"Please, just call me Judy."

"Okay, Miss Judy. Well, see ya, guys." Wendy said and then excitedly ran off.

"I think you just made that cub's week, Judy." Grandma Wilde said.

"Yeah, I guess so. She must really love the kids."

"I don't think that's all there is too it. See, she talks a lot about the ZPD. I think she wants to join when she's older. And she particularly talks a lot about you, Jude."

"Really?"

"Oh yeah. See, being friends with your kids? Top notch honor in her book. But actually going to your house and hanging without you? Well, I think her hero worship just hit an all-time high. She's just good at hiding it."

"Wow, hero worship? I'm not sure what to think about that. I don't consider myself a hero."

"Sure you are, mom. You're out there every day trying to make Zootopia safe. You put yourself on the line all the time. And I thought was cool and brave when I was just reading about you in the paper. But, now that you're my mom, it kinda makes me worry a bit. I know you won't stop, it's just who you are. But still, I worry that you or dad won't come home one night." Denise said.

Judy knelt down and hugged her daughter.

"Oh, honey. Don't you ever worry about that. Your dad and I will always come home. The bad guys would have to shoot us to the moon to keep us from coming back to you. And even then, I know we'd still find a way. Cause that's how much we love you and your brother."

"I love you too, mom." Denise said, cuddling into her mother.

Judy craned her head over to Riley and Grandma Wilde.

"Come on, you two. Get in on this."

The other two family members joined in on this. A few moments later, the group heard a cough from behind them. They looked to see Nick standing there.

"So, is this a private party or can anybody with the last name Wilde join?"

"'Sigh' get over here, you emotionally unstable fox." Judy said jokingly.

"As you wish, you stable bunny, you."

After a family hug, the Wilde's headed to Nick and Judy's car. The dropped Grandma off at her apartment and headed on home. Shortly after dinner, Judy decided to take Riley to the library. This left Nick watching TV with Denise tapping away on her phone nearby.

"What'cha doing over there, Denny?" Nick asked.

"Taking a quiz on pawbook."

"It's not asking you for anything personal, is it? Like, credit card numbers or anything like that?"

"No, it's asking random stuff."

"Such as?"

"Well, let's just start from the top. Question one. How old are you? Eight, but soon to be nine. Question two, what are your mother and father's middle names?"

"Do you wanna hear our full names?"

"Sure."

"Promise you won't laugh?"

"Yeah."

"Alright. My names's Nicholas Piberius Wilde."

"Piberius?"

"Yeah. I don't know why mom had to go with that. Tiberius would've been fine, but no."

"Um, how do you spell that?"

"'Sigh' p, i, b, e, r, i, u, s."

"Okay. And what's mom's?"

"Judith Laverne Wilde, born Hopps."

"And how you do spell Laverne?"

"L, a, v, e, r, n, e."

"Okay. Question three. What's your favorite color? Yellow. Question four. What is your species? Hedgehog. Question five. What does your mother do for a living? Police officer. Question 6. Um, okay, this is weird."

"Can't be weirder than asking for our middle names. What's it say?"

"Is your father older than your mother?"

"Yes."

"You are?"

"Uh-huh."

"By how much?"

"Oh, I'd say about eight years."

"How old's mom?"

"Twenty-five as of right now."

"So then, you're thirty-three."

"Yup."

"Wow, you're old, dad."

"You know, I can take that phone back."

"Um, moving on. Question seven. What is…oh, I got a text from Riley."

"What's it say?"

"Check out this creepy guy at the library. There's a picture attached. Let's see."

Denise opened the link to see a picture of an admittedly shady looking platypus.

"Well, he does look like he's up to no good. But, then again, you can't judge a book by it's cover." Nick said.

"That's true. Oh."

"What?"

"Um, nothing. I just have to go to the bathroom. Be right back."

Denise rushed to the restroom. She then looked at her phone again. A second text from Riley was posted on the screen. It read 'I think he's the guy from that video we saw at the police station. I don't why. I just get that feeling from him.' Denise looked at the picture again and then texted Riley back.

'I do too. I think we should keep an eye out for him.'

'Roger that, junior detective.'


	10. Chapter 10

Saturday arrived and Wendy hurried the Wilde house on her bike. She took a moment to gather herself and then knocked on the door. Judy was the one to answer the door.

"Oh, Wendy. Hi. Welcome. Come on in."

"Thanks, Officer Wilde." Wendy said as she walked inside.

"You know, one of us could've come to pick you up. All you had to do was call."

"Oh, no need to trouble yourself. I looked up the address after Riley told me what it was. Turns out, we actually live about fifteen minutes apart by bike. I was really surprised to find out that we lived so close to each other. Life's funny that way, huh, Officer Wilde?"

"Sure is. And, Wendy, please, just Judy. This isn't an interrogation, so you can relax."

"I'm perfectly relaxed, Miss Judy!" Wendy said, panicking slightly.

"Oh, yeah, I can tell. Look, Wendy. Miss Vivian, the kids' Grandma that's usually with them at the park, told me a bit about you. Particularly about your love for the ZPD. And let me say, I whole heartedly condone that. But, what I can't condone is this…hero…thing you seem to have for me. Trust me, I'm not that great. I'm not some goddess. I'm completely mortal and completely flawed. I've got my fair share of problems. So there's no need to put me up on a pedestal."

"B-but…"

"Hey, it just means that you and I are more alike than you thought. And that's cool, right?" Judy asked, putting her paw on Wendy's shoulder.

Wendy smiled and finally relaxed while nodding yes to Judy's question.

"Alright. That's better. Now, how do you like your burgers?"

"Burgers?"

"Yeah. We decided that since the weather was so nice today that'd have ourselves a cook out. Nick's gone to get his mom and some of our co-workers. A couple of our other friends are coming too. I'm sorry if this ruins your plans for today."

"Oh no. I think this is better than anything I thought of. My mom always says that you can tell a lot about people by the company they keep."

"Well, I hope you like what you see today."

"I'm sure I will. So, do you need any help getting ready for the party?"

"Oh, no. Don't trouble yourself. You're our guest after all."

"No, no, I like to help."

"Well, Nick's gonna man the grill, I'm baking a cake for our desert and the kids are setting the table and putting out snacks. Um, I guess we could use another hot dish. Do you know how to cook anything?"

"Um, well, as the child of two four star chefs, what do you think, Miss Judy?"

"Oh, well, okay. Um, what can you make?"

"Four cheese mac and cheese, spiced mashed potatoes, fried green tomatoes. Just a few things off the top of my head."

"Um, I'm admittedly a bit new to the cooking scene so, um…"

"How's about I just see what you've got and I'll throw something together?"

"Yeah, that'd be great."

"Excuse me then."

Judy watched Wendy head into the kitchen.

"Note to self. Convince Riley to marry that cub when they're older. She'd be a great help around the holidays." Judy said to herself.

Judy then headed outside where the kids were. She inspected the table. The kids had done a fine job setting it and there was an almost glaring attention to detail when it came to keeping the tablecloth smooth. Judy saw that Denise was smoothing out a corner one last time when she noticed her mother.

"Oh, hey, mom. Did we do okay?"

"You did way past okay, sweetheart. This looks, literally, picture perfect."

"I aim to please."

"Say, where's your brother?"

"Oh, he's setting up the games. You know, the lawn darts, corn-hole, that kind of thing. He's over there." Denise said pointing behind Judy.

Judy turned around to see Riley carefully throwing a beanbag into at a slot in the corn-hole board before him. She noticed that he seemed to be aiming for the board itself rather than the target hole.

'Perfect." He said as Judy walked up to him.

"What's perfect, sweetheart?"

"Oh, hey, mom. I think I've got this corn-hole game set up perfectly so that it won't just collapse if somebody throws a beanbag at it."

"Hmph. When did you two become such perfectionists?" Judy asked as Denise joined them.

"Nurture over nature, mom." Denise explained.

"Oh, so, it's my fault. Good to know." Judy chuckled.

"Anyway, Wendy's here and she automatically volunteered to help cook something. So, Denise, why don't you go see if she needs any help? And, Riley, you and I can start bringing out the grill foods. They should be thawed out by now. And your father will be home in just a few minutes. Let's try to have everything ready." She continued.

"Yes, ma'am." The kids said together.

A little while later, Nick returned with his mother. At the same time, Mr. Joeyson arrived. He immediately presented Judy with a small box.

"What's this?" Judy asked.

"Just open it. You'll like it." The kangaroo said.

Judy opened the box to see that it was full of pictures. Of her children in particular. They were of varying ages, some even baby pictures.

"Oh, my goodness. All their birthday pictures and the holiday pictures up till now. Even baby pictures. Denise I can understand, but how'd you get Riley's baby pictures?"

"Believe it or not, they were among his few personal effects when he came to us. We just put them up for safe keeping."

"Oh, I am so glad you did. Thank you, Walter. Thank you so much….wow, I have a lot of photo albums to put together."

"Well, once the party starts to wind down, I'd be happy to help you with that. Thanks for the invite by the way."

"You're welcome. Um, say, when did you celebrate Denise's birthday?"

"Well, as I'm sure you've already figured out, we had no way of knowing when her birthday was exactly. So, we always celebrated it on the day we found her. That was June twenty-fourth."

"Oh, wow. We've got yet another party to prepare for then. Can you come to that?"

"Of course. And I'll come on Riley's too when the third of august rolls around."

"Thank you. Well, please, go enjoy yourself."

"Don't mind if I do."

Shortly after this, Chief Bogo arrived, as did Officer Delgato. His wife Tasha was with him. He figured that it would be a good idea for the Wilde children to meet their teacher before school started. Tasha had brought some flyers for a summer project the school was sponsoring that she was interested to see if the kids wanted to join in on. Then Mr. Big and Fru-fru arrived, along with little Judy. They were going by the names Samuel and Fru-fru Smalls to avoid the suspicion of the cops present that weren't Judy and Nick. They had one of their polar bear bodyguards with them. This one Nick and Judy knew as Koslov. Finally, Officer Clawhauser arrived. He had Dash in tow. He intended to make Dash apologize for the incident at the park. As the family divided up, the kids began to play games. Dash played along, but spoke the bare minimum to the Wilde kids. Judy was fawning of over little Judy while Fru-Fru looked through the various pictures of Riley and Denise. Grandma Wilde had sat down at the table and started up a conversation with Mr. Joeyson and Tasha Delgato. Most of the guys, meanwhile, had gathered around the grill.

"Hey, Nick, put a little extra char on my burger. I like it that way." Peter Delgato said.

"Sure thing, Pete. How about you, Chief?"

"Splash a little hotsauce on mine and let it cook in."

"Like it spicey eh? Okay. Oh. Huh, could've sworn I brought a bottle out. Um, hey, Denny?"

"Yeah, daddy?"

"Could you go get a bottle of hot sauce from the fridge and bring it to me?"

"Sure thing."

"How long have you had these kids, Nick?" Clawhauser asked.

"Um, a little bit shy of two weeks now."

"Wow. Not even a full month into it and she's already affectionately calling you daddy. You must be doing something right, pops."

"Well, I don't know about that. I think it's just because of how happy she is to finally have a family. See, she was given up as a baby. She was literally a doorstep baby. She was left on the front steps of the orphanage and was raised there. This is the only life she's ever known outside the orphanage."

"Well, that's all the more proof that you're doing good by her. Wilde, you and the missus have given her the one thing she's always needed. A mom and dad who love her. You do, don't you?" Bogo asked.

"Of course I love her. She's my daughter. I'd give everything to protect her."

"Exactly my point. That alone proves you're doing just fine as far she's concerned. And that's why she loves you."

"Bogo is right, Nick. And, if I remember correctly, didn't you once tell me that your father wasn't involved in your life growing up?" Mr. 'Smalls' said.

"Yeah, the old man wasn't around. That's another reason why I promised to do my best for Riley and Denise."

"Then you're already twice the man your father ever was. Because a man who doesn't spend time with his family can never be a real man."

"Wow, thanks. Knowing how important family is to you, that means a lot."

"Speaking of him, how do you know Mr. Smalls anyway?" Bogo questioned.

"Oh, well, Judy saved his daughter's life. She kinda became her best friend after that and it was decided that Jude would be the godmother to his granddaughter. They even named her after Judy. I got made godfather when I married Judy. And that's how we became acquainted." Nick half lied.

"I see."

"Hurah!" Everyone heard a yell.

They looked to see Dash hurl a lawn dart as hard as he could. It went sailing over the fence.

"Beat that, Wilde!"

"You got me there, Dash. No way I can top that."

"Yeah, that's right. Cause I'm the greatest."

"You do remember the rule that you have to go get the dart after you throw it, right?"

"Yeah, yeah. Be right back."

Dash hopped over the fence. Seconds later, a loud metal clang was heard and then Dash screamed in pain.

"Dash!" Riley yelled and darted over the fence.

He saw that Dash had slipped on some gutter pieces the neighbors had left out. He also saw that Dash was holding his ankle.

"Dash! Are you okay?"

"It's my ankle. I can't move it."

"Here, let me look at it."

Riley took hold of Dash's foot. He poked and prodded around the cheetah's ankle, all the while asking if anything hurt. Dash repeatedly and honestly said no.

"Okay, let's see if you can put weight on it. Here, use me like a walker." Riley said, helping Dash to his feet.

Dash balanced himself by leaning on Riley's head. He winced as he tried to steady himself.

"I can stand, but it really hurts."

"Okay. I think you just sprained it. You'll be okay. But I think we should get you inside and get some ice on it. Come on. Baby steps." Riley urged.

As the limped their way back to the house, Koslov lifted one of the fence posts out of the way enough to allow the boys to get back into the yard. Riley helped Dash all the way into the living room.

"Okay, stay here. I'll be right back."

Riley darted off and returned with some bandages and a bag of ice. He tightly wrapped up Dash's ankle and then tied the bag of ice to it.

"Where'd you learn how to do this?" Dash asked as the chill of the ice started to take the edge off.

"Years of looking out for my sister. She's a bit clumsy sometimes. It got so bad for while that I called danger prone Denny. So, with her around, I had to learn how to do things like this so I could treat her injuries. Now, you sure nothing hurts?"

"No, it's okay. The ice is definitely helping."

"Good. But, I do recommend that you go to the doctor and checked out properly."

"Okay, I will. But, first, burgers. I did come to a cook out after all. I'll have Uncle Ben take me after we eat. I can stand it that long."

"Okay. If you're sure."

"I am. And, uh, hey, Riley?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks. I, uh, I appreciate this. And, I'm sorry for how things went at the park. I guess I do let the fact that I'm bigger than the other kids go to head. I never meant to be a bully. It just got so easy to use my size to scare others into doing what I want. But, the easy way isn't always the right way. My mom says that a lot. Guess it took meeting the squirrel with no fear to finally learn that lesson."

"Ah, I'm far from fearless, but thanks for the compliment. We cool now?"

"Yup. You, me and Denise. Oh, and that bear cub, um…."

"Wendy."

"Right, Wendy. We're all good."

"Great. Some, uh, mind if I call us friends?"

"After all this? I'd be insulted if you didn't."

Judy just beamed at this scene. Denise was also smiling from the kitchen doorway with Wendy. Nick, meanwhile, recalled a particular conversation he had with Riley.

"I knew he was smart enough to win that cub over. Looks like Zootopia's future is back on track. I'm proud of you son."


	11. Chapter 11

Soon after eating, Dash and his uncle left to get Dash's ankle looked at properly. Ms. Delgato handed officer Clawhauser one of her pamphlets before they left.

"I hope Dash will be okay." Denise said.

"Oh, I'm sure he will be. He's too stubborn to let this keep him down for long." Riley said.

"Wow, you just became friends today and you're already talking about him like you've known each other for years." Wendy said.

"That's my brother for you. He did that for me shortly after we met."

"And that's when you started to love me." Riley interjected.

"Hmm, was that when it was? Yes, I guess it was." Denise said with sly smirk.

"Uh, carrots, does that remind you of anything?" Nick asked Judy as they watched this scene.

"Um, yes. To an almost uncomfortable level. I've heard of kids mimicking their parents but, the last time we said something like that to each other, we weren't even married yet. So, this is kinda weird."

"Um, Smalls, does that mean we're good parents?" Nick asked Mr. 'Smalls'.

"No, Nicky, this one is just plain weird. But, we'll call it good if it makes you feel better."

"Any who. Kids, gather round. Parents too." Mrs. Delgato called.

Everyone gathered around.

"So, guys, I would like you all to look at these." Tasha said as she passed out the pamphlets.

Everyone checked out the pamphlets. It was a school project. It basically boiled down to a week-long 'take your child to work day' event. After the week was over, the kids would write up a five hundred word report on what they learned. Nick noticed Judy's eyes sparkling at the idea.

"Well, carrots, I can tell you're all for this."

"Like you're not? Come on, admit it. You'd love a chance to show off to the kids a bit."

"I plead the fifth."

"Well, it seems that everyone is in favor. But, we should get the go ahead from the big wig. What do you think, Chief Bogo?" Mrs. Delgato asked.

"Hmm, well, I do have the Wilde's working the missing chemicals case. So, they'd be in the station most of the time. And eight eyes on a case are better than four."

"And if they did have to go out on patrol, they could always keep the kids in the cruiser and then call for another car to come pick up the perp." Peter Delgato added.

"Good point, Delgato. Hmm, well, I guess it would be okay."

"Yes! Thank you, Chief. I have wanted the kids to see us in action since the day we brought them to the station." Judy said, practically bouncing from her enthusiasm.

"Cool your jets, Wilde. Sending you on patrol with them is a last resort option only. They may be cop kids, but they're still, technically, civilians and minors to boot. We have to keep them safe."

"Naturally. As their mother, I want nothing more. But, you see, they've both mentioned wanting to help people when they grow up. Denny wants to be a scientist in order to help people, and so I told her about CSI's and the crime lab. And Riley, well, he wants to follow in, I hope, both sets of his parents' footsteps and do something to help all of mammal kind. Naturally, I talked up the ZPD to him and he does seem interested. And, admittedly, I would be so happy and proud if they would follow my and Nick's lead and join the force when they're older. So, I want them to see what goes on behind the scenes."

"Well, I'll tell you now that I'll reject them joining."

"What? Why?"

"Because, by the time they're old enough to join, you two will be on roughly your tenth year of service. Nowhere near retirement yet. So that would mean there would be four officer Wilde's running around Zootopia. I don't think the city could take it." Bogo said, sliding into a joking tone at the last sentence.

"Oh, ha! You had me going there for a second."

"Well, I do have my moments. Seriously though, if they turn out to be half as good as you and Nick, then the city would be lucky to have them."

"We love you too, Uncle Bogo." Denise said, earning an embarrassed shuffle from Bogo and a laugh from the crowd at large.

"Well, if everyone's for it, then I suggest getting started right away." Mrs. Delgato said.

"Oh, trust me. We will. Kids, Monday morning, be ready." Judy said.

"Yes, ma'am." The kids said together.

The rest of the weekend seemed to fly by and Monday morning came along quickly. Judy made sure the kids were wearing they're best clothes and she proudly paraded them into the station. Everyone quickly noticed Dash sitting at the front desk with his uncle.

"Dash? You're doing this too?" Riley asked.

"Yeah. I wanted to see what uncle Ben did all day."

"And what do you think so far, Dash?" Judy asked.

"Honestly? I'm bored. Do you really just sit here all day, uncle ben?"

"I don't just sit here. True, some days it's quiet and I don't have much to do. I usually end up playing around on my phone on those days. But, I do take my job seriously and it's important. You see, Dash, I'm what's called a dispatcher. That means that when someone calls in a report, I send out officers to check into it. But, that's not all. I also man the front desk for when people come to make reports and other things in person. Some people are intimidated by the idea of going to the police in person. Scared that they'll wind up in trouble too, or something like that. So, it's important for the first face they see be a friendly and inviting one to make them feel comfortable."

"Okay, I can understand that. But, you know me. I prefer the action. I'd rather be the dispatched than the dispatcher. I wanna be a hero."

"We're all heroes in our own ways, Dash. True, your uncle doesn't see much action, but that doesn't make him any less important. We beat cops can only see and hear so much on the street. We need Ben and others like him to keep us informed about where we're needed. If your uncle wasn't there to take the calls and send us out to investigate, lots of good people could wind up hurt or worse. So he's helping to make the city a better place. That sounds a bit heroic to me, even if it is indirectly." Judy said.

"Well, when you put it that way, it certainly does put a whole new spin on the job. But, I'd still rather be in field. We cheetahs have a nasty habit of putting on weight when we're not always on the move." Dash joked.

"Well, you're just going to have to put on some pounds until that ankle heals, buster." Ben said.

Dash did a waving motion over his head along with a whistling noise. This was to signal that the joke he'd said had flown right over his uncle's head. Riley and Denise chuckled a bit at this.

"Anyway, you guys better get to the bullpen." Ben said.

"Yeah. We'll see you later, Ben. Have fun, Dash." Judy said.

"I'll try."

"What's the bullpen?" Denise questioned.

"Morning rollcall and assignment distribution. It's to show that we're all present and accounted for. Then the chief gives us our assignments for the day." Nick explained.

"But, if uncle Bogo tells you what to do, then where does uncle ben come in?" Riley asked.

"He comes in when we're out in the field and need to respond to an emergency. Sometimes, we'll be on location, doing our assignment and then a call will come in. Ben knows we're the closest to the scene, so he'll call us. We go handle whatever it is and then go back to what we were doing. That, in a nutshell, is how the day usually goes around here." Judy explained.

The kids nodded in response and then followed their parents into the bullpen. Chief Bogo came up to the front podium and called for everyone to settle down.

"Alright, everyone. Let's address the elephant in the room. Harriet…happy birthday."

The officers all patted the female elephant officer on the back and gave well wishes on a happy birthday. This show of comradery made the kids smile and feel more like this was a family rather than a bunch of coworkers.

"Shoot, I forgot about her birthday. We need to get a belated birthday card for her. Nick, remember that." Judy told her husband.

"Don't worry, I'm already marking it down in my phones calendar."

"Now then, let's talk about the two things I'm sure everyone has noticed by now. Officers Wilde!"

"Yes sir!" Judy said as she and Nick stood to attention.

"Oh, no, not you, Judy. I mean the smaller ones. Honorary Officers Riley and Denise Wilde, step forward."

The kids did as told and marched up to the chief's side. All the while, they were excitedly mumbling the words 'honorary officers' to each other.

"Attention!" Chief Bogo snapped.

The kids immediately snapped into an almost military attention. Judy and Nick were proud of how responsibly the kids were handling this sudden and unexpected occurrence.

"Now, for those of you who haven't met them yet, this is Riley and Denise Wilde. They are the adopted son and daughter of our own Judy and Nick. That means they're cop kids. So you know what that means."

"Yes sir. Welcome to the family." The crowd said together as the kids beamed from the attention.

"Now then, they're doing an assignment for school where they'll be shadowing their parents for this week. If you see them, be sure to say hello. If they have any questions, answer them to the best of your abilities. If they need help, provide immediate assistance. Is that clear?"

"Yes sir." The crowd yelled.

"Good. Now then, as I said, they are honorary officers for this week. So, treat them with the same respect as you would each other. Also, kids, these clothes aren't going to fly. Here, take these." The chief said producing a two bags from under the podium.

"Go get changed and come back. Oh, and make sure to give the spare to the young officer Clawhauser at the front desk."

"Um, yes sir." Riley said.

The kids left and returned ten minutes later. The sight of them made Judy's heart swell. They were dressed in small versions of the basic police uniform. She was so enthralled by this site that she failed to notice the grappler that was just barely hidden under Riley's sleeve.

"And now, I'll call the older officers Wilde up." The chief said.

The parent Wilde's came up and the chief handed his two best two small boxes. The parents opened them to reveal small badges with the words junior officer scrawled across their middle. Other than this, they were exact replicas of regular officer badges.

"I think you know what to do with these." The chief prodded.

The parents nodded and proudly pinned the badges to their children's shirts. Even Nick had to be proud of this moment. He could only imagine what this might be like in the future, when it was official. The parents saluted their children who responded in kind and then stood next to them, facing the crowd.

"Quite the sight, aren't they? The future of the ZPD, ladies and gentlemen."

The crowd cheered and clapped loudly. Denise couldn't help but blush a bit from all the attention. After this, the Wilde family returned to their seats and the chief continued the morning meeting. Once it was over, Judy approached the chief.

"Chief, thank you for doing this. I promise we'll have the unifoms cleaned and turned back in at the end of the week."

"Oh no. Those are theirs to keep. You see, we actually had a surplus of small mammal uniforms we needed to get rid of anyway, so I thought that we might as well make the kids look and feel like real officers while they're here. Those badges are theirs too. They're the new junior officer's badges we hand out. Gone are the stickers."

"Hey, I was proud of my sticker badge." Nick joked.

"Whatever, Wilde. Anyway, the kids can keep everything. Let them wear them for Halloween or something after this. Just make sure they're in uniform every day this week."

"Yes sir. Well, come on, Officers Wilde. We've got work to do."


	12. Chapter 12

The Wilde family spent the rest of the day going over the chemical case's files. The kids learned many terminologies and did get a quick tour of the facility before it was time to go home. Judy and Nick decided to take the kids out for dinner as a reward for their good behavior today and for the honest effort they had put into trying to figure out the chemicals case. They stopped at a mom and pop type restaurant called the Just Right Diner. It was run by bears and it was the first place Nick and Judy had ever eaten dinner together when they started dating. They vouched for the foods quality, stating it was four star worthy at least.

"So, what sounds good to you guys?" Judy asked, flipping through the menu.

"Um, I think I'm gonna get this down unda' salad with roasted crickets and eucalyptus. And, can I get the four cheese mac too?" Denise asked.

"Sure honey. Actually, the four cheese mac sounds pretty good. Why don't we get one large order of that and we'll all split it, along with whatever else we each order?"

"Sounds good to me. I'm gonna get this hibachi-grilled mantis burger with fries." Riley said.

"Hmm, that doesn't sound half bad. I think I'll get that too. How's about you, Carrots?" Nick asked.

"Um, promise you won't laugh?"

"Yeah."

"Um, I'm gonna get the roasted veggie assortment, with extra carrots."

"Hmph. Typical bunny." Nick kidded.

The kids laughed and Judy made a grumpy face. Just then, the waitress came up.

"Hi, everybody. Are you ready to order?" Came a familiar voice.

The family lowered the menus, which had been hiding their faces, to see who the waitress was.

"Wendy?" Denise asked.

"Oh, hey, guys. Fancy running into you here."

"What are you doing here?" Denise asked.

"Oh, well, this is my family's diner. I'm shadowing my parents for that project."

"Huh, this place is run by your family?" Nick asked.

"Yes sir, Mr. Wilde." Wendy said proudly.

"Please, Wendy, just Nick. And, I have to say, it's a small world. See, this was the first place Judy and I had dinner together at after we first started dating. And now, here we are with you as our waitress and friend to our kids."

"Yeah, that's life being funny alright. By the way, you guys look good in your uniforms. All four of you."

"Thanks, Wen. The chief gave us these. And they're real too. Real, official uniforms." Riley said.

"Cool."

"You look good in your waitress outfit, Wendy." Denise said.

"Aw, thanks. Any who, I should take your order. What would you like?"

The family gave Wendy their order.

"And four medium sodas. Alrighty, it'll be ready soon."

As Wendy walked off, Judy looked across the table to her children. A full-faced grin crossed her muzzle and she couldn't help giggling out of joy.

"Um, mom, you okay?" Riley asked his rabbit mother.

"I'm fine, sweetie. I'm just tickled pink to see you guys in those uniforms. Oh, I just have to show your grandparents. Where's my phone?"

Judy quickly whipped out her phone and sent a muzzle time request to her parents. A few moments later, Stu and Bonnie answered.

"Hey Jude the dude. What's up?" Stu asked.

"Hey, guys."

"Hi Stu, Hi Bonnie." Nick interjected.

"Hi Nick." The two greeted their son-in-law simultaneously.

"So, what's up, Judy?" Bonnie asked.

"Well, we're here at the diner we had one of our first dates at with the kids."

"Aw, that's sweet. Say, Stu, didn't we do that with Judy once when she was a kid?"

"Uh, yeah. Now that you mention it, I do remember doing that. Looks like Jude's following in our footsteps. I think she ordered a veggie burger that was bigger than her head."

"Yeah, that's right. She had leftovers from that sandwich for the next two days." Bonnie said, chuckling.

The kids could hear their maternal grandmother and started giggling at the thought of the kid version of their mother trying to scarf down such a ridiculously big burger.

"Anyway, we're waiting for our food, so I decided to call you guys cause I wanna show you something."

"And what's that, dear?" Bonnie asked.

"Kids, say hi to grandma and grandpa." Judy said, turning her phone around.

The kids waved wildly as their grandparents took in their sight.

"Oh my, Judy. Where did they get those suits? The look so real." Stu said.

"That's because they are, dad. See, we had a cookout at the house this past Saturday and had a bunch of friends and co-workers over. Well, one of the co-workers brought his wife along. And conveniently, she's going to be the kids' teacher when they start school in august. Well, she brought a bunch flyers about a summer project the school's promoting. It basically amounts to a weeklong take your child to work thing. The kids shadow us and then write a five hundred word report on what they learned. And, well, today was their first day and we took them into the morning rollcall. We get in there and one of the first things the chief does is call the kids up to the front, while calling them 'honorary officers'. He introduced them to the whole crew and then gave them these uniforms. They were meant for small mammals but they had too many of them. So, the chief decided to give them to them, along with those junior officer badges they have pinned to their chests." Judy explained, while turning the phone back around.

"Well, that was very nice of him. And they look great in them. Denise looks out right darling." Stu said.

"And Riley looks very dashing. Like a little hero." Bonnie gushed.

The kids had clear looks of embarrassment on their faces as their grandparents talked about how they looked in their uniforms. Nick chuckled to himself as watched them.

"Tis the nature of the beast called family for the older generations embarrass the younger. Better get used to it, kids." Nick thought to himself.

"Oh, how great would it be if they would follow in my and Nick's footsteps?" Judy said.

"Well, we'd be proud of them regardless of what they chose to do in the future." Bonnie said.

"Oh, come on, mom. Don't do the overprotective thing with them, like you did with me."

"I'm not. I'm just saying that you need to understand that while you're their mother, their lives are still theirs. That's a fact every mother, and father in Stu and Nick's cases, gets hit with. Generation after generation it happens. You can want whatever you want for them, but no one knows what the future holds. So you need to learn to be accepting if they end up following career paths that don't involve the ZPD."

"But they both seem really interested."

"That's great. Really, it is. But, that's now. The future's the future. People change, Judy. You know that well enough."

"Yeah. Okay, I get it. Um, kids?"

The two looked up to their rabbit mother.

"I would extremely proud if you would follow me and your father into the force. But, your lives are yours. So, no matter what you decide to do, I promise to love you with all my heart and be just as proud of you in any job as I would be with the force."

"Heh, another mothering lesson learned. Nice job with the teaching, mother-in-law." Nick thought.

"Um, actually, after seeing everything I have today, I think I would like to work for the ZPD. Especially in the crime lab." Denise said honestly.

"Yeah, me too. And I think it'd be cool to be the first small mammal to be a permanent member of SWAT. So that's what I wanna do." Riley said with a broad smile.

Judy excitedly threw the phone to Nick and jumped across the table to hug her children. She squeezed them tightly. Nick shrugged to his obviously confused in-laws and then pointed the phone at Judy and the kids. The grandparents smiled at first, then their faces turned to concern.

"Um, Jude…" Stu said but got no reaction.

"Judy!" Bonnie said loudly.

"Hmm?" Judy said, still wrapped up in her indescribable happiness.

"Honey, they can't breathe."

Judy suddenly became aware of a smacking on her right shoulder. It was Riley tapping out to his mother's death hug.

"Oh!" Judy said and snapped free from her kids who gasped and panted, trying to get their breath back.

"Oh, jeez. I am so sorry kids. I didn't hurt you, did I?" Judy asked, carefully examining her children for any signs of damage.

"We're okay, mom. Just, uh, watch the death hugs from now on." Denise said.

"Noted." Judy said sheepishly

The rest of the night went by without incident, as did the next day. Then Wednesday rolled around. This day, the Wilde's were told to skip the bullpen and get straight to work on the missing chemicals case. And so the four of them were in an office, closely examining some case files. Then Chief Bogo came in.

"Wilde's."

"Yes, sir?" Denise asked, acting like a proper officer.

"Unfortunately, Officers McHorn and Grizzoli called off. McHorn's mother is sick, so called off to be with her. And Grizzoli has a doctor's appointment he couldn't reschedule. So, that leaves the Savannah central patrol unattended. And unfortunately, we don't have anybody here to spare to keep an eye on our junior officers. So, I need the four of you to go out on patrol, right now."

"Yes, sir. Come on gang." Nick said.

"If you apprehend anybody, call it in and we'll send somebody to pick them up, somehow. I'll come out myself if I have to." Bogo said as the four walked out of the room.

"Understood, sir. Which cruiser are we taking?" Judy asked, walking backward to keep up with her family.

"Fifty-three."

"Got it. Good old fifty-three. Hey, wait for me, you guys. Wait for momma!" Judy said as she noticed her family getting ahead of her.

Sometime later, the Wilde family was enjoying a fairly quiet patrol. They were even listening to music and playing I spy.

"Okay, Denny. Your turn." Judy said.

"Um, okay. I spy with my little eye…." Denise said, while scanning out one of the back seat windows.

Something from a nearby office building caught her attention. As she figured out what it was, she reported it to her family by finishing her I spy line.

"A weasel robbing an office building!" Denise said, jumping up and pointing at the weasel.

"Let's get him!" Riley excitedly shouted.

"Floor it, Nick!" Judy called.

"Got it! Sirens!"

Judy flipped the sirens on and the cruiser barreled down towards the weasel.

"Oh, crap! ZPD!" the weasel shouted and then darted down a narrow alley.

"The cruiser won't fit. Come on, Nick! We're hoofing it!"

"Got it. Kids, stay here!"

"But, we could help!" Denise said.

"Stay in the car! That's an order!" Nick shouted and ran off.

Riley and Denise sat there for a few seconds. Denise then turned to Riley.

"We're not really going to sit here, are we?"

"Course not. Just waiting on you to say something. Come on!"

The younger officers Wilde jumped out of the cruiser and took in the situation.

"Boy, mom and dad sure can run fast." Denise said.

"Yeah, but the weasel's faster."

"How do we catch up?"

"Hmm, I've got an idea. Come on!"

Meanwhile, Judy and Nick were running full steam after the suspect.

"Darn it! Stop!" Judy shouted.

"No way, flopsy the copsy!"

"Oh, good lord. Weaselton? Again?!"

"Yeah, and I'm getting away this time!" Duke Weaselton yelled as he neared the end of the alley.

At the end of the alley, Nick and Judy saw two small figures drop in from above. Then, a then line formed in between them. Duke didn't see it and tripped over the line, which was actually a cable. From a familiar source.

"I heard what Mrs. Officer Wilde said. You apparently don't learn your lesson, do you, Weaselton?" One of the figures said in a voice the Wilde's knew well.

"Denny?" Judy asked as she and Nick approached the scene.

Nick and Judy saw their kids standing over the criminal weasel. Riley was retracting the claw and cable into his grappler while Denise had Duke pinned down with her foot.

"I thought I told you to stay in the cruiser." Nick said.

"And what? Not do our jobs as honorary officers?" Riley asked.

Nick sighed and rubbed his eyes.

"So, do we get to cuff him or do you wanna do it?" Denise asked.

"Alright, alright. Let's get on with it." Judy said, pulling cuffs out of her gear.

"Arg! When did the ZPD start letting funny looking brats join?" Duke asked as Judy cuffed him.

"That's none of your business. And if I was you, I would keep the insults to a minimum. Cause these two? They're my babies." Judy said darkly.

Weaselton gulped.

"Nick, I'm gonna call another car to come pick him up. You wanna go back to the office building and get some statements?"

"Yeah. And I'll take the kids with me. Assuming they can stay with me."

"You wanna get the job done or not, pops?" Riley asked as the three began heading back to the cruiser.

"What I want you to do is listen to me. As both a senior officer and, especially, as your father. Doing stuff like this just makes me worry about you. You don't wanna worry me or your mom do you?"

"No, but…" Denise said.

"Look, I can appreciate your enthusiasm. I get it, okay? But, I want and need to know that you're safe for me to do my job right. Doing this job distracted can be hazardous to your health."

"Okay, dad. We understand. We'll keep to the cruiser from now on." Riley said.

"Good. But, you can come into the office with me. Might need some help gathering statements and evidence."

The three Wilde's returned to the office building. They found out that it was the site of a laboratory operated by a Doctor Platten. When Platten himself came up to Nick for questioning, Riley and Denise temporarily froze.

"It's him. It's the creep from the library." Riley quietly said to Denise.

"Yeah, I see that. Um, hey, it's detective time. Let's see if our suspicions about him are true. I'll stay with dad. Sneak around and see if you can find anything."

"I'm on it."

Riley poked around the lab, acting like he examining the crime scene. He found nothing concrete until accidentally knocked over a trach can. The label from something fell out as he tried to pick the can up. Riley examined the label and found that it had the Gene-Co brand printed on it in large letters. Riley took another glance around the lab and noticed some boxes in the corner of the room that he had over looked the first time. He couldn't tell if the labels on the boxes said Gene-co on them or not from where he was, but they did look exactly like the label he had otherwise.

"Gotcha! But, this isn't enough. Need more evidence. I'll do some research about the good doctor when we get back to the station."

Riley returned to his sister.

"Anything?"

"Yup. Found some Gene-co stuff back there. But that could be explained away from just the fact that he's a scientist. Let's research the doc and Gene-co's records when we get back to the station."

"Got it."

Sometime later, Riley was clicking through all sorts of files on a station computer with Denise by his side.

"Thought so. No records of Gene-Co sending a Doctor Platten any of their stuff."

"So, what should we do?" Denise asked.

"We could tell mom and dad."

"But, he could explain that much away by saying that he got them second-hand or something. I don't think there would be public records for that."

"Whiskers! You're right, sis. Well, I guess we need irre...irrefu…"

"Irrefutable?"

"Yeah, irrefutable proof. We need that."

"And how do we get that?"

"I'm thinking an investigation. And I'm thinking that we need to do it soon. Like tonight soon. Cause I'm getting bad vibes from this Platten guy. Like if he isn't stopped soon, he's gonna do something horrible."

"Yeah, I get that feeling too. But, I don't wanna worry mom and dad anymore."

"Yeah, I know. But, for the greater good of Zootopia, we have to."

"I guess that's the rough part being a cop. The whole needs of the many thing."

"Yeah. So, here's what I'm thinking." Riley said and then whispered in Denise's ear.

Just then, Judy and Nick came into the room. They had gone to change into their civilian clothes. The kids never changed until they got home and turned into some lounging clothes.

"Hey you two. Ready to go home?" Judy asked.

"Yeah. Um, hey mom, can we camp out in the backyard tonight? Riley and me?"

"Well, I guess it would be okay. But do you wanna do it all of a sudden?"

"Just a random urge." Riley explained.

"Well, okay. Come on, let's go."


End file.
